Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present

by Sir J. M. Le Moine

CHAPTER III.

THE "ANCIENT CAPITAL."

QUEBEC—ITS HIGHWAYS AND BY-WAYS, EDIFICES, MONUMENTS, CITIZENS, LEGENDS, CHRONICLES, AND ANTIQUITIES.

"I pray you, let us satisfy our eyes
With the memorials and the things of fame
That do renown this city."—(Shakespeare.)

What a field here for investigation? Has not each thoroughfare its distinctive feature—its saintly, heathenish, courtly, national, heroic, perhaps burlesque, name? Its peculiar origin? traceable sometimes to a dim—a forgotten past; sometimes to the utilitarian present time. What curious vistas are unfolded in the birth of its edifices—public and private—alive with the memories of their clerical, bellicose, agricultural or mercantile founders? How much mysterious glamour does not relentless time shed over them in its unceasing march? How many vicissitudes do they undergo before giving way to modern progress, the exigencies of commerce, the wants or whims of new masters? The edifices, did we say? Their origin, their progress, their decay, nay, their demolition by the modern iconoclast—have they no teachings? How many phases in the art of the builder and engineer, from the high-peaked Norman cottage to the ponderous, drowsy Mansard roof—from Champlain's picket fort to the modern citadel of Quebec—from our primitive legislative meeting-house to our stately Parliament Buildings on the Grande Allée?

The streets and by-ways of famous old world cities have found chroniclers, in some instances of rare ability: Timbs, Howitt, Augustus Sala, Longfellow, &c. Why should not those of our own land obtain a passing notice?

Is there on American soul a single city intersected by such quaint, tortuous, legend-loving streets as old Quebec? Is there a town retaining more unmistakable vestiges of its rude beginnings—of its pristine, narrow, Indian-haunted, forest paths?

Our streets and lanes bear witness to our dual origin: Champlain, Richelieu, Buade streets, by their names proclaim the veneration our fathers had for the memory of men who had watched over the infancy of the colony, whilst the mystic, saintly nomenclature of others exhibited the attachment of the early dwellers in Quebec to the hallowed old Roman faith which presided at their natal hour.

One also finds here and there, in the names of certain thoroughfares, traces of the sojourn within our walls of popular Governors, famous Viceroys, long since gathered to their fathers, some of whose ashes mingle in our cemeteries with the dust of our forefathers—[8] Champlain, Frontenac, Mesy, De Callières, De Vaudreuil, De la Jonquière, Ramsay, Carleton, Hope, Dalhousie, Richmond and Aylmer.

A student of history, in the signboards affixed to street corners, loves to light on the names of men whose memories are fragrant for deeds of heroism, devotedness, patriotism or learning. Bréboeuf, Champlain, Dollard, Ferland, Garneau, Christie, Turgeon, Plessis, and many others of blameless and exemplary life—each has his street. We know of a worthy and learned old antiquary whose lore and advice has been more than once placed at our disposal in unravelling the tangled skein on which we are engaged, who rejoices that his native city, unlike some of the proud capitals of Europe, is free from vulgar names, such as "Tire-Boudin," "P—t—au D——le," in gay Paris, and "Crutched Friars," "Pall-Mall," and "Mary-le- bone," in great London.

In fact, does not history meet you at every turn? Every nook, every lane, every square, nay, even the stones and rocks, have a story to tell—a record to unfold—a tale to whisper of savage or civilized warfare—a memento to thrill the patriot—a legend of romance or of death—war, famine, fires, earthquakes, land and snow-slides, riot?

Is it not to be apprehended that in time the inmates of such a city might become saturated with the overpowering atmosphere of this romantic past— fall a prey to an overweening love of old memories—become indifferent, and deadened to the feelings and requirements of the present? This does not necessarily follow. We are, nevertheless, inclined to believe that outward objects may act powerfully on one's inner nature: that the haunts and homes of men are not entirely foreign to the thoughts, pursuits and impulses, good or bad, of their inmates.

Active, cultured, bustling, progressive citizens, we would fain connect with streets and localities partaking of that character, just as we associate cheerful abodes with sunshine, and repulsive dwellings with dank, perennial shadows.

Mr. N. Legendre, in a small work intituled "Les Échos de Quebec," has graphically delineated the leading features of several of our thoroughfares:—

"In a large city each street has its peculiar feature. Such a street is sacred to commerce—a private residence in it would appear out of place. Such another is devoted to unpretending dwellings: the modest grocery shop of the corner looks conscious of being there on sufferance only. Here resides the well-to-do—the successful merchant; further, much further on, dwell the lowly—the poor. Between both points there exists a kind of neutral territory, uniting the habitations of both classes. Some of the inmates, when calling, wear kid gloves, whilst others go visiting in their shirt sleeves. The same individual will even indulge in a cigar or light an ordinary clay pipe, according as his course is east or west. All this is so marked, so apparent, that it suffices to settle in your mind the street or ward to which an individual belongs. The ways of each street vary. Here, in front of a well-polished door, stands a showy, emblazoned carriage, drawn by thoroughbreds; mark how subdued the tints of the livery are. There is, however, something distingué about it, and people hurrying past assume a respectful bearing.

"In the next street, the carriage standing at the door is just as rich, but its panelling is more gaudy—more striking in colour are the horses—more glitter—more profusion about the silver harness mountings. Though the livery has more éclat, there seems to be less distance between the social status of the groom and that of his master.

"Walk on further—the private carriage has merged into the public conveyance; still further, and you find but the plain calèche.

"Finally, every kind of vehicle having disappeared, the house-doors are left ajar; the inmates like to fraternise in the street. On fine evenings the footpath gets strewed with chairs and benches, occupied by men smoking—women chatting al fresco unreservedly—laughing that loud laugh which says, "I don't care who hears me." Passers-by exchange a remark, children play at foot-ball, while the house-dog, exulting in the enjoyment of sweet liberty, gambols in the very midst of the happy crowd. These are good streets. One travels over them cheerfully and gaily. An atmosphere of rowdyism, theft, wantonness, hovers over some thoroughfares. Dread and disgust accompany him who saunters over them. Their gates and doorways seem dark—full of pit- falls. Iron shutters, thick doors with deep gashes, indicate the turbulent nature of their inhabitants. Rude men on the sidepaths stare you out of countenance, or make strange signs—a kind of occult telegraphy, which makes your flesh creep. To guard against an unseen foe, you take to the centre of the street—nasty and muddy though it should be,—for there you fancy yourself safe from the blow of a skull-cracker, hurled by an unseen hand on watch under a gateway. The police make themselves conspicuous here by their absence; 'tis a fit spot for midnight murder and robbery—unprovoked, unpunished. Honest tradesmen may reside here, but not from choice; they are bound to ignore street rows; lending a helping hand to a victim would cause them to receive, on the morrow, a notice to quit.

"Be on your guard, if necessity brings you, after nightfall, to this unhallowed ground. Danger hovers over, under, round your footsteps. If an urchin plays a trick on you at a street corner, heed him not. Try and catch him, he will disappear to return with a reinforcement of roughs, prepared to avenge his pretended wrongs by violence to your person and injury to your purse.

"Should a drunken man hustle you as he passes, do not mind him: it may end in a scuffle, out of which you will emerge bruised and with rifled pockets.

"We dare not tell you to yield to fear, but be prudent. Though prudence may be akin to fear, you never more required all your wits about you. It is very unlikely you will ever select this road again, though it should be a short cut. Such are some of the dangerous streets in their main features. There are thoroughfares, on the other hand, to which fancy lends imaginary charms; the street in which you live, for instance. You think it better, more agreeable. Each object it contains becomes familiar, nay cherished by you—the houses, their doors, their gables. The very air seems more genial. A fellowship springs up between you and your threshold—your land. You get to believe they know you as you know them—softening influences—sweet emanations of 'Home.'"—Translation.

THE UPPER TOWN.

The Upper Town in 1608, with its grand oaks, its walnut trees, its majestic elms, when it formed part of the primeval forest, must have been a locality abounding in game. If Champlain, his brother-in-law, Boullé, as well as his other friends of the Lower Town, [9] had been less eager in hunting other inhabitants of the forest infinitely more dreaded (the Iroquois), instead of simply making mention of the foxes which prowled about the residency (l'abitation), they would have noted down some of the hunting raids which were probably made on the wooded declivities of Cape Diamond and in the thickets of the Coteau Sainte Geneviève, more especially when scurvy or the dearth of provisions rendered indispensable the use of fresh meats. We should have heard of grouse, woodcock, hares, beavers, foxes, caribou, bears, &c., at that period, as the probable denizens of the mounts and valleys of ancient Stadacona.

In 1617 the chase had doubtless to give way to tillage of the soil, when the first resident of the Upper Town, the apothecary Louis Hébert, established his hearth and home there.

"He presently," (1617) says Abbé Ferland, "commenced to grub up and clear the ground on the site on which the Roman Catholic cathedral and the Seminary adjoining now stand, and that portion of the upper town which extends from St. Famille Street up to the Hôtel-Dieu. He constructed a house and a mill near that part of St. Joseph Street where it received St. François and St. Xavier Streets. These edifices appear to have been the first which were erected in the locality now occupied by the upper town."

At that period there could have existed none other than narrow paths, irregular avenues following the sinuosities of the forest. In the course of time these narrow paths were levelled and widened. Champlain and Sir David Kirtk bothered themselves very little with improving highways. Overseers of roads and Grand-Voyers were not then dreamed of in La Nouvelle France: those blessed institutions, macadamized [10] roads, date for us from 1841.

One of the first projects of Governor de Montmagny, after having fortified the place, was to prepare a plan for a city, to lay out, widen and straighten the streets, assuredly not without need. Had he further extended this useful reform, our Municipal Council to-day would have been spared a great amount of vexation, and the public in general much annoyance. On the 17th November, 1623, a roadway or ascent leading to the upper town had been effected, less dangerous than that which had previously existed.

"As late as 1682, as appears by an authentic record (procès-verbal) of the conflagration, this steep road was but fourteen feet wide. It was built of branches, covered with earth. Having been rendered unserviceable by the fire, the inhabitants had it widened six feet, as they had to travel three miles, after the conflagration, to enter the upper town by another hill."—(T. B. Bédard.)

In the summer season, our forefathers journeyed by water, generally in birch-bark canoes. In winter they had recourse to snow-shoes.

To what year can we fix the advent of wheeled vehicles? We have been unable to discover.

The first horse presented by the inhabitants to the Governor of the colony arrived from France on the 25th June, 1647. [11] Did His Excellency use him as a saddle horse only? or, on the occasion of a New Year's day, when he went to pay his respects to the Jesuit Fathers, and to the good ladies of the Ursulines, to present, with the compliments of the season, the usual New Year's gifts, was he driven in a cariole, and in the summer season in a calèche? Here, again, is a nut to crack for commentators. [12]

Although there were horned cattle at Quebec in 1623, oxen for the purpose of ploughing the land were first used on the 27th April, 1628.

"Some animals—cows, sheep, swine, &c.—had been imported as early as 1608. In 1623, it is recorded that two thousand bundles of fodder were brought from the pasture grounds at Cap Tourmente to Quebec for winter use."—(Miles.)

On the 16th of July, 1665, [13] a French ship brought twelve horses. These were doubtless the "mounts" of the brilliant staff of the Marquis de Tracy, Viceroy. These dashing military followers of Colonel de Salières, this jeunesse dorée of the Marquis de Tracy, mounted on these twelve French chargers, which the aborigines named "the moose-deer (orignaux) of Europe," doubtless cut a great figure at Quebec. Did there exist Tandems, driving clubs, in 1665? Quien sabe? A garrison life in 1665-7 and its amusements must have been much what it was one century later, when the "divine" Emily Montague [14] was corresponding with her dear "Colonel Rivers," from her Sillery abode in 1766; she then, amongst the vehicles in use, mentions, calèches. [15]

They were not all saints such as Paul Dupuy, [16] the patriarchal seigneur of Ile-aux-Oies, these military swells of Colonel de Salières! Major Lafradière, for instance, might have vied with the most outrageous rake in the Guards of Queen Victoria who served in the colony two centuries later.

If there were at Quebec twelve horses for the use of gentlemen, they were doubtless not suffered to remain idle in their stables. The rugged paths of the upper town were levelled and widened; the public highway ceased to be reserved for pedestrians only. This is what we wanted to arrive at.

In reality, the streets of Quebec grew rapidly into importance in 1665. Improvements effected during the administration of the Chevalier de Montmagny had been highly appreciated. The early French had their Saint Louis (Grande Allée), Saint Anne, Richelieu, D'Aiguillon, Saint John, streets, to do honour to their Master, Louis XIII.; his Queen the beautiful Anne of Austria; his astute Premier the Cardinal of Richelieu; his pious niece la Duchesse D'Aiguillon; his land surveyor and engineer Jehan or Jean Bourdon. This last functionary had landed at Quebec on the 8th August, 1634, with a Norman priest, the Abbé Jean LeSueur de Saint- Sauveur, who left his surname (St. Sauveur) to the populous municipality adjoining St. Roch suburbs. [17]

In the last and in the present century, St. Louis Street was inhabited by many eminent persons. Chief Justice Sewell resided in the stately old mansion, up to June 1881 occupied as the Lieutenant-Governor's offices; this eminent jurist died in 1839. "One bright, frosty evening of January 1832," says Mr. Chauveau, "at the close of a numerously attended public meeting held at the Ottawa Hotel, to protest against the arrest of Messrs. Tracy, editor of the Vindicator, and Duvernay, editor of the Minerve, the good citizens of Quebec, usually so pacific, rushed in a noisy procession, led by a dozen students wearing tri-coloured ribbons in their button-holes, and sang the Marseillaise and the Parisienne under the windows of the Chief Justice, whose ear was little accustomed to such a concert." The ermined sage, 'tis said, was so startled, that he made sure a revolution was breaking out.

"Among the fiery, youthful leaders, the loudest in their patriotic outburst, there was one who would then have been much surprised had any one predicted that after being President of the Legislative Council, Prime Minister of the Canadas, and knighted by H. R. H. the Prince of Wales in person, he would one day, as Lieutenant-Governor, enter in state this same former residence of Chief Justice Sewell, whilst the cannon of Britain would roar a welcome, the flag of England stream over his head, and a British regiment present arms to him." Such, however, has been the fate of Sir Narcissus Fortunatus Belleau.

The mansion of M. de Lotbinière, in St. Louis street, was the residence of
Madame Pean, the chère amie of M. Bigot the Intendant. The late
Judge Elmsley resided there about the year 1813; Government subsequently
purchased it to serve as an officers' barracks. Nearly opposite the old
Court-House (burned in 1872), stands the "Kent House," in which His Royal
Highness the late Duke of Kent resided in summer, 1791-3. [18] No. 42 St.
Louis Street is the house [19] which belonged to the cooper, François
Gobert; it now has become historical. In it were deposited the remains of
General Montgomery on the 31st December, 1775. This summer it is leased by
Louis Gonzague Baillargé, Esq., the proprietor, to Widow Pigott, whose
late husband was in the "B" Battery.

In the street sacred to Louis XIII., St. Louis street, Messrs. Brown [20] & Gilmor established, in 1764, [21] their printing office for the Quebec Gazette, "two doors higher up than the Secretary's Office," wherever this latter may have stood. The Gazette office was subsequently removed to Parloir Street, and eventually settled down for many a long year at the corner of Mountain Hill, half-way up, facing Break-Neck steps,—the house was, with many others, removed in 1850 to widen Mountain Street. According to a tradition published in the Gazette of the 2nd May, 1848, the prospectus of this paper had, it would appear, been printed in the printing office of Benjamin Franklin.

This venerable sheet, which had existed one hundred and ten years, when it was merged, in 1874, by purchase of the copyright, into the Morning Chronicle, in its early days, was nearly the sole exponent of the wants— of the gossip (in prose and in verse)—and of the daily events of Quebec. As such, though, from the standard of to-day, it may seem quaint and puny, still it does not appear an untruthful mirror of social life in the ancient capital. Its centenary number of June, 1864, with the fyles of the Gazette for 1783, have furnished the scholarly author of the "Prophecy of Merlin," John S. Reade, with material for an excellent sketch of this pioneer of Canadian journalism, of which our space will permit us to give but some short extracts:—

"The first number of the Quebec Gazette, judged by the fac-simile before me, was a very unpretending production. It consists of four folio pages, two columns to each page, with the exception of the 'Printer's Address to the Public,' which takes up the full width of the page, and is written in French and English, the matter in both languages being the same, with the exception of a Masonic advertisement, which is in English only. In the address, accuracy, freedom and impartiality are promised in the conduct of the paper. The design of the publishers includes 'a view of foreign affairs and political transactions from which a judgment may be formed of the interests and connections of the several powers of Europe'; and care is to be taken 'to collect the transactions and occurrences of our mother-country, and to introduce every remarkable event, uncommon debates, extraordinary performance and interesting turn of affairs that shall be thought to merit the notice of the reader as matter of entertainment, or that can be of service to the publick as inhabitants of an English colony.' Attention is also to be given to the affairs of the American colonies and West India Islands; and, in the absence of foreign intelligence, the reader is to be presented with 'such originals, in prose and verse, as will please the fancy and instruct the judgment. And,' the address continues, 'here we beg leave to observe that we shall have nothing so much at heart as the support of virtue and morality and the noble cause of liberty. The refined amusements of literature and the pleasing veins of well-pointed wit shall also be considered as necessary to the collection; interspersed with other chosen pieces and curious essays extracted from the most celebrated authors; so that, blending philosophy with politicks, history, &c., the youth of both sexes will be improved, and persons of all ranks agreeably and usefully entertained.'

"As an inducement to advertisers, it is held out that the circulation of the Gazette will extend, not only through the British colonies, but also through the West India Islands and the trading ports of Great Britain and Ireland. The address very sensibly concludes with the following remarks, which, however, cast a shade over the rather tedious prolegomena: 'Our intention to please the whole, without offence to any individual, will be better evinced by our practice than by writing volumes on this subject. This one thing we beg may be believed, that party prejudice or private scandal will never find a place in this paper.'

"With this large promise began the first Canadian newspaper on the 21st of June, 1764.

"The news in the first number is all foreign. There are despatches from Riga, St. Petersburg, Rome, Hermanstadt, Dantzic, Vienna, Florence and Utrecht, the dates ranging from the 8th of March to the 11th of April. There are also items of news from New York, bearing date the 3rd, and from Philadelphia the 7th of May. News-collecting was then a slow process, by land as well as by sea.

"Of the despatches, the following is of historical importance: 'London, March 10th. It is said that a scheme of taxation of our American colonies has for some time been in agitation, that it had been previously debated in the Parliament whether they had power to lay a tax on colonies which had no representative in Parliament and determined in the affirmative,' etc. The occasional insertion of a dash instead of a name, or the wary mention of a 'certain great leader' or 'a certain great personage' tell a simple tale of the jealousy with which the press was then regarded both in England and on the continent. The prosecution of Smollett, Cave, Wilkes and others were still fresh in the minds of printers and writers.

"Another despatch informs the readers of the Gazette of an arrêt lately issued for the banishment of the Jesuits from France, and another of a deputation of journeymen silk weavers who waited on the King at St. James with a petition setting forth their grievances from the clandestine importation of French silk, to which His Majesty graciously replied, promising to have the matter properly laid before Parliament.

"An extract from a letter from Virginia gives an account of some Indian outrages, and there is some other intelligence of a similar nature. The other news is of a like temporary interest.

"I have already mentioned a masonic advertisement. I now give it in full:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,

That on Sunday, the 24th, being the Festival of St. Jhon (sic), such strange BRETHREN who may have a desire of joining the Merchants Lodge, No. 1, Quebec, may obtain Liberty, by applying to Miles Prenties, at the Sun, in St. John Street, who has Tickets, Price Five Shillings, for that Day.

"One thing is evident, that a printing establishment of 1764 had to be supplied with abundance of italics and capitals to meet the exigencies of the typographic fashion of the time.

"Of the two remaining advertisements, one is an order of the Collector of Customs for the prevention of composition for duties and the other gives a list of 'an assortment of goods,' 'just imported from London, and to be sold at the lowest prices by John Baird, in the upper part of Mr. Henry Morin's house at the entry of the Cul de Sac'—an assortment which is very comprehensive, ranging from leather breeches to frying-pans. From this and subsequent trade advertisements we are able to gather some not unimportant information as to the manner of living of the citizens of Quebec in those days." [22]

William Brown was succeeded in the editorship and proprietorship of this venerable sheet by his nephew, Samuel Neilson, the elder brother of John Neilson, who for years was the trusted member for the County of Quebec; as widely known as a journalist—a legislator—in 1822 our worthy ambassador to England—as he was respected as a patriot.

Samuel Neilson had died in 1793;—his young brother and protégé, John, born at Dornald, in Scotland, in 1776, being, in 1793, a minor, the Gazette was conducted by the late Rev. Dr. Alex. Sparks, his guardian, until 1796. When John Neilson became of full age, he assumed the direction of the paper for more than half a century, either in his own name or in that of his son Samuel. Hon. John Neilson closed his long and spotless career, at his country seat (Dornald), at Cap Rouge, on the 1st February, 1848, aged 71 years. Who has not heard of the Nestor of the Canadian Press, honest John Neilson? May his memory ever remain bright and fragrant—a beacon to guide those treading the intricate paths of Journalism—a shining light to generations yet unborn!

In a pretty rustic cemetery, the site of which was presented by himself to the Presbyterian Church of Valcartier, near Quebec, were laid, on the 4th February, 1848, the remains of this patriotic man—escorted by citizens of every origin, after an eloquent address had been delivered by the Rev. Dr. John Cook, the present pastor of St Andrew's Church.

The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec is indebted to his son John
Neilson, of Dornald, for a precious relic, the iron lever of the first
Press used at Quebec in 1764—precious, indeed, as a souvenir of Canadian
Journalism.

There are indeed many Scotch names associated with the Quebec Press. Space precludes us from enlarging more on this subject. In alluding to notable Quebec Journalists we are bound to name Daniel Wilkie, LL.D., the editor of the Quebec Star,—a literary gazette—in 1818—still better remembered as the esteemed instructor of Quebec youth for forty years.

Dr. Wilkie was born at Tollcross, in Scotland, in 1777, one year later than John Neilson: he settled in Quebec in 1803, and died here on the 10th May, 1851. His pupils had the following truthful words inscribed on the monument they erected to their patron in Mount Hermon cemetery:

"He was a learned scholar
And indefatigable student of philosophy and letters,
An able and successful instructor of youth,
Of genuine uprightness and guileless simplicity
A devout, benevolent and public spirited man."

The Abbé Vignal resided at the corner of St. Louis and Parloir street, previous to joining the Sulpiciens. In October, 1661, he was roasted alive and partly eaten by the Mohawks at Isle à la Pierre, la Prairie de la Magdeleine, near Montreal. In our day, the judicial and parliamentary heads, and the Bar have monopolized the street. In it have resided at various times, Sir N. F. Belleau, Chief Justice Duval, the Judges Taschereau, Tessier, Bossé, Caron, Routhier; Hon. H. L. Langevin, P. Pelletier, M.P.; Messrs. Bossé, Baby, Alleyn, Languedoc, Tessier, Chouinard, Hamel, Gauthier, Bradley, Dunbar, cum multis aliis, some of whose rustic clients are as early birds as those in the days of Horace, and scruple not to wake up their trusted advisers, "sub galli cantum." [23]

St. Louis street legal luminaries are careful not to endanger their hard- earned reputations by delivering their consultations with the oracular, Solon-like gravity of the barristers who flourished in the palmy days of Hortensius or Justinian. 'Twould be an anachronism. The traditional fee, however, is rarely omitted. A busy day, indeed, in this neighborhood, watched over by the shades of Louis XIII., St. Louis street, is, in each year, the 1st of September, when the close of the sultry midsummer vacation brings round "the first day of term," then

"Grave gownsmen, full of thought, to 'chambers hie, From court to court, perplexed, attorneys fly; … each! Quick scouring to and thro', And wishing he could cut himself in two That he two places at a time might reach, So he could charge his six and eightpence each." —(The Bar, a Poem, 1825.)

Matters judicial, legal, financial, etc., have much changed—we are inclined to say improved—in Canada, especially for the Judges. "I will not say," writes the satirical La Hontan, "that justice is more chaste and disinterested here than in France; but, at least, if she is sold, she is sold cheaper. We do not pass through the clutches of advocates, the talons of attorneys and the claws of clerks. These vermin do not infest Canada yet. Everybody pleads his own cause. Our Themis is prompt, and she does not bristle with fees, costs and charges. The judges have only four hundred francs a year—a great temptation to look for law in the bottom of the suitor's purse. Four hundred francs! Not enough to buy a cap and gown, so these gentry never wear them." [24] Justice is not now sold, either in Quebec or elsewhere, but judges, on the other hand, viz., in Ottawa, receive, not "four hundred francs," but thirty-five thousand francs ($7,000) a year, and have "enough to buy a cap and a gown," yea, and a brilliant red one, to boot. Voilà un progrès.

On an old plan, in our possession, of the Cape and Mount Carmel, showing the whereabouts of lots and the names of their proprietors, drawn by Le Maître Lamorille, a royal surveyor, bearing date 20th May, 1756, and duly sanctioned by the French Intendant Bigot on the 23rd January, 1759, can be seen at Mont Carmel, St. Louis street, a lot marked "No. 16, M. Pean." [25]

M. Pean, Town Major of Quebec, a trusted confederate of the Intendant Bigot, the proprietor of this land, was the husband of the beautiful Angélique de Meloises, the inamorata of the voluptuous and munificent Intendant. In her youth she had been a pupil of the Ursuline nuns. In his Reminiscences of Quebec, 2nd edition republished in 1859, Col. Cockburn thus alludes to this St. Louis street house (now Dominion property and occupied by Lt.-Col. Forest and Lt.-Col. D'Orsonnes). "It sometimes happened in those days, when a gentleman possessed a very handsome wife, that the husband was sent to take charge of a distant post, where he was sure to make his fortune. Bigot's chère amie was Madame P—— in consequence of which as a matter of course, Mr. P—— became prodigiously wealthy. Bigot had a house that stood where the officers barracks in St Louis street, now (1851) stands. One New Year's Day he presented this house to Madame P—— as a New Year's gift."

Mr. Kirby, in his "Chien d'Or," a historical novel of rare Merit, thus recalls this house—"The family mansion of the des Meloises was a tall and rather pretentious edifice overlooking the fashionable rue St Louis where it still stands, old and melancholy as if mourning over its departed splendors. Few eyes look up now-a-days to its broad façade. It was otherwise when the beautiful Angélique de Meloises sat of summer evenings on the balcony, surrounded by a bevy of Quebec's fairest daughters, who loved to haunt her windows where they could see and be seen to the best advantage exchanging salutations, smiles and repartees with the gay young officers and gallants who rode or walked along its lively thoroughfare."

The novelist has selected this historic house for the meeting of the lovers, on Christmas Eve 1748. Here Le Gardeur de Repentigny, the loyal and devoted cavalier was to meet the fascinating, but luckless Cleopatra of St Louis street a century ago and more.

"As Le Gardeur spoke, adds Mr. Kirby; a strain of heavenly harmony arose from the chapel of the Convent of the Ursulines, where they were celebrating midnight service for the safety of New France. Amid the sweet voices that floated up on the notes of the pealing organ was clearly distinguished that of Mère St. Borgia, the aunt of Angélique, who led the choir of nuns. In trills and cadences of divine melody, the voice of Mère St. Borgia rose higher and higher, like a spirit mounting the skies. The words were indistinct, but Angélique knew them by heart. She had visited her aunt in the convent, and had learned the new hymn composed by her for the solemn occasion. As they listened with quiet awe to the supplicating strain, Angélique repeated to Le Gardeur the words of the hymn as it was sung by the choir of nuns:—

Soutenez, grande Reine,
Notre pauvre pays!
Il est votre domaine,
Faites fleurir nos lis!
L'Anglais sur nos frontières,
Porte ses étandards
Exaucez nos prières
Protégez nos remparts!"

"The hymn ceased. Both stood mute until the watchman cried the hour in
the silent street."

We shall not follow further the beautiful but heartless Cleopatra through her deadly schemes of conquest, or in her flight after the Intendant. Sixteen years after the departure of the Court beauty, on a dark, stormy winter morning, the 31st December, 1775, a loud note of alarm awoke at dawn from their slumbers the demure denizens of St. Louis street. It was the captain of the guard, Captain Malcolm Fraser, [26] formerly of Fraser's Highlanders (78th), but now of the 84th Royal Emigrants, Col. Allan McLean—who, on going his rounds between 4 and 5 in the morning, had passed the guard at St. Louis gate, and had noticed flashes like lightning on the heights without the works. Convinced it was for an attack, he sent notice to all the guards, and ran down St. Louis street, calling "Turn out" as loud and as often as he could. The alarm soon caught the quick ear of the General (Guy Carleton) and the picquet at the Récollets Convent was instantly turned out. Captain Fraser's alarm was timely. Before eight o'clock on that memorable December morning, Benedict Arnold had been wounded, routed at the Sault au Matelot barricade, and 427 of his daring men taken prisoners of war, whilst the Commander-in-Chief, Brigadier- General Richard Montgomery and thirteen followers were lying dead in their snowy shrouds at Près-de-Ville. The rest had taken flight.

The saddest sight ever witnessed in St. Louis street was that which heralded to its awe-struck denizens the issue of the momentous conflict on the adjoining heights in Sept. 1759.

In the paper read by the writer before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, on the 3rd of December, 1879, the mournful appearance of the French hero, Montcalm, is thus described:—

"The morning of the 13th September, 1759, has dawned; an astounding
rumour fills the air; the citizens of Quebec repeat with bated breath:
Wolfe's army is at the gates of the city.

"Hark! What means this deafening roar of artillery—this hissing of shot and shell—these rolling, murderous volleys of musketry in the direction of the heights of Abraham?

"Hark! to these loud cheers—British cheers mixed with the discordant yells of those savage warriors, Fraser's Highlanders! The fate of a continent has just been decided. The genius of William Pitt has triumphed, though victory was bought at a dear price.

"Here comes from St. Louis gate [27] on his way to the Château, pale, but dauntless—on a black charger—supported by two grenadiers, one on each side of his horse, a General officer wearing the uniform which won at Fontenoy, won at Laufeldt, as well as at the Monongahela [28] and at Carillon. [29] A bloody trail crimsons the Grande Allée, St. Louis street, on that gloomy September day. My friends, 'tis the life-blood of a hero. Drop in reverential silence, on the moistened earth, a sympathetic tear; France's chivalrous leader, the victor of many battle-fields, has returned from his last campaign.

"Oh! mon Dieu! mon Dieu! Le Marquis est tué," is repeated by female voices as the death-stricken but intrepid general glides past, to which he courteously replies, trying to quiet their fears, 'that he was not seriously hurt, and not to distress themselves on his account.' 'Ce n'est rien! ce n'est rien! ne vous affligez pas pour moi, mes bonnes amies.'

"You have all heard the account of the death-bed scene—of his tender solicitude for the good name of France—of his dying injunctions to de Ramesay, the King's lieutenant in charge of the Quebec Garrison, and to the Colonel of the Roussillon Regiment. 'Gentlemen, to your keeping I commend the honour of France. Endeavour to secure the retreat of my army to-night beyond Cape Rouge. As for myself, I shall pass the night with God, and prepare for death.'

"At nine o'clock in the evening of that 14th of September, 1759, a funeral cortege, issuing from the castle, winds its way through the dark and obstructed streets to the little church of the Ursulines. With the heavy tread of the coffin-bearers keeps time the measured footsteps of the military escort. De Ramesay and the other officers of the garrison following to their resting-place the lifeless remains of their illustrious commander-in-chief. No martial pomp was displayed around that humble bier, but the hero who had afforded at his dying hour the sublime spectacle of a Christian yielding up his soul to God in the most admirable sentiments of faith and resignation, was not laid in unconsecrated ground. No burial rite could be more solemn than that hurried evening service performed by torchlight under the dilapidated roof of a sacred asylum, where the soil had been first laid bare by one of the rude engines of war—a bombshell. The grave tones of the priests murmuring the Libera me, Domine were responded to by the sighs and tears of consecrated virgins, henceforth the guardians of the precious deposit, which, but for inevitable fate, would have been reserved to honour some proud mausoleum. With gloomy forebodings and bitter thoughts de Ramesay and his companions in arms withdrew in silence.

"A few citizens had gathered in, and among the rest one led by the hand his little daughter, who, looking into the grave, saw and remembered, more than three fourths of a century later, the rough wooden box, which was all the ruined city could afford to enclose the remains of her defender.

"The skull of the Marquis of Montcalm, exhumed in the presence of the Rev. Abbé Maguire, almoner, in 1833, many here present, I am sure, have seen in a casket, reverently exposed in the room of the present almoner of the Ursuline Convent."

SOCIETY UNDER EARLY ENGLISH RULE.

Under the sway of the English Government, Canada soon recovered her wonted gaiety, and the social condition of the country, following on so large an admixture of a different nationality, is a subject stimulating inquiry. We cannot do better than have recourse again to Mr. Reade's graphic pen in an article on "British Canada in the Last Century," contributed to the New Dominion Monthly, and suggested by the Quebec Gazette of 1783, the St. Louis Street journal above quoted:—

"If there were nothing left to the enquirer but the single advertisement of John Baird, which appeared in the first number of the Quebec Gazette, as the basis of information, he might, with a moderate power of inductiveness, construct a very fair account of the mode of living pursued at Quebec a hundred years ago. But the fact is he is overwhelmed with data, and his chief difficulty is to choose with discrimination. There is certainly ample evidence to show that the inhabitants of the ancient capital did not stint themselves in the luxuries of their day and generation. The amount of wine which they consumed was something enormous, nor are we wanting in proof that it was used among the better classes to an extent which public opinion would not allow at the present day. A correspondent, more inclined to sobriety than his fellow citizens, after complimenting Quebec society for its politeness and hospitality—in which qualities it still excels—finds fault with the social custom by which 'men are excited and provoked by healths and rounds of toasts to fuddle themselves in as indecent a manner as if they were in a tavern or in the most unpolished company.' In connection with this state of affairs it may be interesting to give the prices of different wines at that period: Fine Old Red Port was sold at 17 shillings a dozen, Claret at 12s., Priniac at 17s.; Muscat at 24s., Modena at 27s., Malaga at 17s.; Lisbon at 17s.; Fyall at 15s.

"Mr. Simon Fraser, perhaps one of those converted Jacobites who scaled the height of Quebec, in 1759, turned civilian, gives us the price of tea: Single Green tea is 13s. a pound, Best Hyson, 25s; Bohea, 6/6d. Pity that tea was so dear and wine so cheap! Bread was very cheap, and large quantities of wheat were exported—whereas now Lower Canada has to import the most of its cereals. Great attention was paid to dress, and though no sumptuary laws were in force, the principle on which they were founded was still remembered, and attire bespoke the position of the wearer. The articles and styles advertised by drapers and tailors are, of course, in accordance with the manufacture and fashion of the time. The lists of dry goods and fancy goods are very full, but to those engaged in the business now the antique nomenclature might be puzzling. Irish linen was sold at from 1/6 to 7/0 per yard, and Irish sheeting at from 1/6 to 2/6. We are not told the prices of tammies or durants, romals or molletons, cades or shalloons, but we are always carefully informed that they may be had at the lowest prices. Pains are also taken, in many instances, to indicate the previous experience of the advertisers. Thus tailors and mantua-makers generally 'hail from' London. Mr. Hanna, the watch- maker, whose time-keepers still tick attestation to his industry and popularity, is proud to have learned his trade by the banks of the Liffey. Mr. Bennie, tailor and habit-maker, from Edinburgh, 'begs leave to inform the public that all gentlemen and ladies who will be so good as to favour him with their custom may depend upon being faithfully served on the shortest notice and in the newest fashion for ready money or short credit, on the most reasonable terms.' There were peruke-makers in those days and they seem to have thriven well in Quebec, if we may judge by their advertised sales of real estate. Jewellers also seem to have had plenty to do, as they advertise occasionally for assistants instead of customers. Furriers, hatters, couturières and shoemakers also present their claims to public favour, so that there was no lack of provision for the wants of the outer man.

"From the general tone and nature of the advertisements it is easily inferred that the society of Quebec soon after the conquest was gay and luxurious. We are not surprised when we find that a theatrical company found it worth their while to take up their abode there. Among the pieces played we find Home's 'Douglas' and Otway's 'Venice Preserved.' The doors were opened at five o'clock and the entertainment began at half-past six! The frequenters of the 'Thespian Theatre' were a select and privileged class, and only subscribers were admitted. Private theatricals were much in vogue; and, indeed, there was every variety of amusement which climate could allow or suggest, or the lovers of frolic devise. Nor were bards wanting to celebrate these festivities, witness the following extract from a 'carioling song:'

"'Not all the fragrance of the spring,
Nor all the tuneful birds that sing,
Can to the Plains the ladies bring,
So soon as carioling.

"'Nor Venus with the winged Loves,
Drawn by her sparrows or her doves,
So gracefully or swiftly moves,
As ladies carioling,"

"Another poet, whose mind was evidently less healthily braced by out-
door exercise, gives us a very different picture of the recreations of
the period. It occurs in the course of an essay in versification
called 'Evening.'

"'Now minuets o'er, the country dance is formed
See every little female passion rise,
By jealousy, by pride, by envy warmed,
See Adam's child the child of Eve despise.

"'With turned-up nose Belinda Chloe eyes,
Chloe Myrtilla with contempt surveys,
"What! with that creature dance!" Cleora cries,
"That vulgar wretch! I faint—unlace my stays.

* * * * *

"'Now meet in groups the philosophic band,
Not in the porch, like those of ancient Greece,
But where the best Madeira is at hand
From thought the younger students to release

"'For Hoyle's disciples hold it as a rule
That youth for knowledge should full dearly pay,
Wherefore to make young cubs the fitter tool
Presuming sense by Lethean drafts they slay.

* * * * *

"'With all the fury of a tempest torn,
With execrations horrible to hear,
By all the wrath of disappointment borne,
The cards, their garments, hair, the losers tear.'

"The winner's unfeeling composure is described in another verse, and

"'Now dissipation reigns in varied forms
Now riot in the bowl the senses steeps,
Whilst nature's child, secure from passion's storms,
With tranquil mind in sweet oblivion sleeps.'

"It is to be hoped, for the honour of the ladies and gentlemen of old Quebec, that 'Asmodeus' was under the malign influence of envy, hatred and all uncharitableness when he wrote those cynical verses. If he wrote the truth we cannot be too thankful that the Chloes and Cleoras are dead and buried.

"Who was Miss Hannah MacCulloch? She was a young lady once; and, if we may believe her panegyrist, was a beauty in her day. The acrostic in her honor is anonymous, and occasion is taken in the course of it to almost mention some other young ladies by the way of making a climax of her charms. The poet seems to have been inspired by indignation at the insinuations of 'Asmodeus,' for he begins thus.

"'Muses, how oft does Satire's vengeful gall
Invoke your powers to aid its bitter sting,'

and then he prefers his own claims to the favor of the Nine

"'Sure you will rather listen to my call,
Since beauty and Quebec's fair nymphs I sing'

"It seems his petition was heard, for he forthwith begins his
laudation:

"'Henceforth Diana in Miss S—ps—n see,
As noble and majestic is her air,
Nor can fair Venus, W—lc—s, vie with thee,
Nor all her heavenly charms with thine compare.

"'Around the B—ch—rs Juno's glory plays,
Her power and charms in them attract our praise
Minerva, who with beauty's queen did vie
And patronized all the finer arts,
Crowned the McN—ls with her divinity,
Crowned them the queens of beauty and of hearts.

"'Unto fair F—m—n now I turn my song,
Lovely in all she says, in all she does,
Lo! to her toilet see each goddess throng,
One cannot all, but each a charm bestows
Could all these beauties in one female be,
Her whom I sing would be the lovely she.'

"This effusion provoked more criticism than many a book of poetry is subjected to nowadays, and the censors were in their turn criticized by others. Montreal even took part in this literary tournament. But we are left in the dark as to its effect on the spirits, tempers or destinies of Miss MacCulloch and her sister belles.

"It would seem that the author was a young clerk or merchant of Quebec, as one of the critics spitefully tells him not to desert his shop. The ladies themselves do not escape, one writer suggesting that they are coquettish enough already without making them more so. The Montreal correspondent is warned off as an intruder, and told that he had better have saved his ninepence of postage money. Just imagine this silly acrostic furnishing gossip for Quebec and matter for the Gazette for two months!

"As another note of the state of society at that time may be mentioned occasional advertisements for the sale of negro lads and wenches, or of rewards for the recovery and restoration of missing ones. Slavery was not abolished in Lower Canada till 1803. In Upper Canada, as a separate province, it hardly ever existed. Did the manumitted blacks remain in Canada after their liberation, or did they seek a more congenial climate?

"For education there does not seem to have been any public provision, but private schools for both sexes were numerous. These were probably expensive, so that the poorer classes were virtually debarred from the advantages of learning. The instruction of Catholic children was in the hands of the clergy, and it may be that in some of the conventual schools a certain number were admitted free of expense or at reduced rates. It would appear that some of the young ladies were sent to English boarding-schools, if we may judge by advertisements in which the advantages of these institutions are set forth.

"A Miss or Mrs. Agnes Galbraith not only taught school, but also carried on the millinery business, to which she informs the public that she had served a regular apprenticeship, besides having been 'a governess for several years to a genteel boarding-school.'

"The principal of a boys' school who resided at Three Rivers 'respectfully begs leave to remark that he means to presume no further than he is perfectly able to perform, and build his hope of encouragement on no other foundation than his assiduity to merit it.' His 'course' is nevertheless a pretty full one, including English, French, Latin, Greek, writing in a natural and easy style after the best precedents; arithmetic, vulgar and decimal; geography, with use of the globes; geometry, navigation with all the late modern improvements; algebra, and every other useful and ornamental branch of mathematical learning. Some of the other male teachers write in a similar strain of their qualifications."

"It may be inferred, then, that the wealthier classes of Canada in those days had much the same advantages of culture as their friends in England. Intercourse with the mother country was much more general and frequent than might be imagined, and, no doubt, many young gentlemen, after a preliminary training at a colonial academy, were sent home to enter some of the English public schools or universities. From the higher ranks downwards education varied till it reached the 'masses,' with whom its index was a cipher. There is no reason to suppose, however, that the population of Canada, taken as a whole, was less cultivated during the last forty years of the eighteenth century than that of any European nation during the same period. From the consideration of education, one naturally passes to that of crime. Thefts were frequent, and sometimes committed on a large scale. The punishment was whipping at a cart-tail through the streets of the city—the culprits themselves being whipped and whipsters in turn. Assault, stealing in private houses, and highway robbery were punished with death. The expiation for manslaughter was being branded in the hand which did the deed. Desertion was very frequent, especially among the Hessians and Brunswickers then stationed in Canada. In some cases they were promised pardon if they returned to their regiments, but woe to them if they returned against their will! Towards the end of the year 1783 'Gustavus Leight, a German doctor, confined for felony, broke out of His Majesty's jail at Quebec.' He was '25 years of age, about 5 feet high.' We are not told whether or not he was captured as the advertisement is continued to the end of the year, but if he did not change his dress he could not have succeeded in baffling very long the keen eye of a detective, for "he had on, when he made his escape, a brown coat, red plush waistcoat, white stockings and cock'd hat.' If such a gentleman made his appearance in the streets of any Canadian city to-day, he would certainly be requested to 'move on,' or asked to 'explain his motives.' One thing is certain, that prisoners for felony in the year 1783 had not to submit to any arbitrary sumptuary arrangement—at least in the Quebec gaol (as it is always spelled in the Gazette, perhaps because it is the goal of evildoers).

"The general state of society in Montreal, as well as in Three Rivers, St. Johns, L'Assomption, Terrebonne, Sorel and the other towns and villages in existence at the period which we are considering was, in all probability, very like that of Quebec—the last-mentioned place having, of course, a certain prestige as the capital.

"It would be futile to attempt to give an accurate picture of the appearance of Montreal or Quebec at that distant date, and a description pretending to accuracy would not be possible without the collation of more ancient records than are easily obtainable by one person. The names of some of the streets, as Notre Dame, St. Paul and St. Antoine in Montreal, and St. John's, Fabrique, St. Peter and others in Quebec, are still unchanged. Villages near these towns, such as Ste. Foye, Beauport, Charlesbourg, Sault aux Récollets, St. Denis, Ste. Thérèse, etc., are also frequently mentioned in the old Gazettes. Detroit and Niagara were places of considerable importance, and St. Johns, Chambly, Berthier, L'Assomption, L'Acadie and other places were much more influential communities in comparison with the population of the country than they are to-day. The authorities at Quebec and Montreal were not wanting in endeavors to keep these cities clean, to judge, at least, by the published 'regulations for the police.' Every householder was obliged to put the Scotch proverbs in force, and keep clean and 'free from filth, mud, dirt, rubbish straw or hay' one-half of the street opposite his own house The 'cleanings' were to be deposited on the beach, as they still are in portions of Montreal and Quebec which border on the river. Treasure-trove in the shape of stray hogs could be kept by the finder twenty-four hours after the event, if no claim had been made in the meantime, and if the owner declared himself in person or through the bellman, he had to pay 10s. before he could have his pork restored. Five shillings was the penalty for a stray horse. The regulations for vehicles, slaughter-houses, sidewalks, markets, etc., were equally strict. Among other duties, the carters had to keep the markets clean. The keepers of taverns, inns and coffee-houses had to light the streets. Every one entering the town in a sleigh had to carry a shovel with him for the purpose of levelling cahots which interrupted his progress, 'at any distance within three leagues of the town.' The rates of cabs and ferry-boats are fixed with much precision. No carter was allowed to plead a prior engagement, but was to go 'with the person who first demanded him, under a penalty of twenty shillings.' The rate of speed was also regulated, and boys were not allowed to drive.

"Constant reference is made to the walls and gates of Montreal as well as Quebec, and there is reason to believe the smaller towns were similarly fortified. Beyond the walls, however, there was a considerable population, and many of the military officers, Government officials and merchants had villas without the city. The area in Montreal which lies between Craig, St. Antoine and Sherbrooke streets was studded with country-houses with large gardens and orchards attached. The seigneurs and other gentry had also fine, capacious stone-built residences, which much enhanced the charm of the rural scenery. Some of the estates of those days were of almost immense extent. The Kings of France thought nothing of granting a whole province, and, even in British times, there were gentlemen whose acres would have superimposed an English county. The extraordinary donation of James I. of a large portion of North America to Sir William Alexander was not long since brought before the public by the claims of his descendants. Large tracts of land were given away by Louis XIII., Louis XIV. and other French kings, by Oliver Cromwell and the Stuarts, and the same extravagant system of entailing unmanageable wealth on companies and individuals was continued after the conquest.

"It would be interesting to know what was the kind of literary fare on which the intellect of Canada subsisted in those days. It cannot be supposed that the people spent all their time in business and social pleasure. There must have been readers as well as cariolers and dancers, and the literature of England and France was by no means scanty. Great writers on every subject have flourished since that time, but some of the greatest that ever lived, some of those whose productions are still read with the highest pleasure, were the offspring of the two centuries which preceded the conquest. No one will be surprised to find, then, that in the year 1783, a circulating library in Quebec numbered nearly 2,000 volumes. Nor is the enquirer left in the dark as to its probable contents. In the Quebec Gazette of the 4th of December, a list of books is given which 'remained unsold at M. Jacques Perrault's, very elegantly bound'—and books were bound substantially as well as elegantly in those days. In this list are found 'Johnson's Dictionary,' then regarded as one of the wonders of the literary world, 'Chesterfield's Letters,' long the vade-mecum of every young gentleman beginning life, and which, even in our own days (and perhaps still), were frequently bound along with spelling and reading books, the 'Pilgrim's Progress', which it is not necessary to characterize, Young's 'Night Thoughts,' the 'Spectator and 'Guardian,' Rapin's 'English History,' 'Cook's Voyages,' Rousseau's 'Eloise,' 'Télémaque,' 'Histoire Chinoise,' 'Esprit des Croissades,' 'Lettres de Fernand Cortes,' 'Histoire Ancienne' par Rollin, 'Grammaire Anglaise et Française,' 'Dictionnaire par l'Académie,' 'Dictionnaire de Commerce,' 'Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences,' 'Smith's Housewife,' 'The Devil on Sticks,' 'Voltaire's Essay on Universal History,' 'Dictionnaire de Cuisine' and several others on various subjects, 'Oeuvres de Rabelais,' 'American Gazetteer,' etc. These, it will be remembered, had remained unsold, but among the sold there must have been copies of the same.

"It is, according to our notions of to-day, a meagre collection, but, no doubt, many families possessed good libraries, brought with them from over the sea, and the bookseller may not have kept a large stock at one time. It was the custom for merchants to sell off all their overlying goods before they went or sent to Europe for a reinforcement.

"The following books were advertised as 'missing:'—Langhorn's Plutarch, 1st vol., Thomson's Works, 4th vol., Gordon's 'Universal Accountant,' 1st vol.; and Gray's Hudibras, 2nd vol. For each one of them there is offered a reward of two dollars! Reading was expensive recreation in those times.

"The reader, perhaps, has seen, or, it may be, possesses one of those old libraries, of which the general public occasionally have a glimpse at auction rooms, composed of standard authors, and beautifully and solidly bound, which had adorned the studies of the fathers of our country. They contain all that was best in the French and English literature of the last century—history, poetry, divinity, belles lettres, science and art. From these may be gathered what were the tastes, the culture and the thought of the Canadians of the last century.

"Music and painting were cultivated—the former being, as now, a necessary part of female education. Of a festival given by the young ladies of a place called La Côte, near Quebec, in 1764, it is promised in the programme that "the orchestra and symphony will be composed of instruments of all kinds." It may interest some ladies to know that among the dances at the same entertainment are mentioned 'l'Harlequinade,' 'La Chinoise,' and 'La Matelote Hollandaise'—some relation, perhaps, to the 'Sailor's Hornpipe.'

"The settlement in Canada of the United Empire Loyalists, after the peace of September, 1783, by which the independence of the revolted colonies was recognized, must have had a considerable influence on Canadian society, and more than atoned for sufferings inflicted on the colony during the progress of the war. Repeated efforts had been made by the Americans to engage the affections of the Canadians. Among those whom Congress had appointed commissioners to treat with the Canadian people on this subject was the renowned Dr. Benjamin Franklin, whose visit to this country was not the most successful portion of his career. Although in some instances there was a manifestation of disaffection to the British Government, the great bulk of the population remained unmistakably loyal. In the Quebec Gazette of October 23rd, 1783, is found the Act of Parliament passed in favour of the Loyalists, in which the 25th day of March, 1784, is fixed as the limit of the period during which claims for relief or compensation for the loss of property should be received. How many availed themselves of the provisions of this act it is not easy to say, but the whole number of persons dispossessed of their estates and forced to seek another home in consequence of their continued allegiance, is set down at from 25,000 to 30,000. Of these, the great majority took up their abodes in the Canadas, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, while a few went to the West Indies, and others returned to England. The biographies of some of these Loyalist settlers in British North America would be full of interest and instruction. But records of family movements and vicissitudes are very rarely kept—most rarely in those cases in which adventures are most frequent and the course of events most changeful. I have, however, seen accounts of the early settlements in the Eastern Townships, P. Q., and in different portions of Ontario, which were full of the romance of faith, of courage, and of perseverance."

THE ST. LOUIS HOTEL

A sketch of this fashionable thoroughfare—St. Louis street—the headquarters of the judiciary, barristers, politicians, etc., would be incomplete without a mention of the chief trysting-place of travellers and tourists for the last thirty years—the leading hostelry of Quebec. St. Louis Hotel is made up of two or more private dwellings joined together. That on the corner of Haldimand and St. Louis streets formerly was owned as a residence by the late Edward Burroughs, Esq., P. S. C. Next to it stood, in 1837, Schluep's Hotel—the Globe Hotel—kept by a German, and where the military swells in 1837-8-9 and our jolly curlers used to have recherché dinners or their frugal "beef and greens" and fixings. In 1848, Mr. Burroughs' house was rented to one Robert Bambrick, who subsequently opened a second-class hotel at the corner of Ste. Anne and Garden streets, on the spot on which the Queen's printer, the late Mr. George Desbarats, built a stately office for the printing of the Canada Gazette—subsequently sold on the removal of the Government to Ottawa —now the Russell House. The Globe Hotel belonged to the late B. C. A. Gugy, Esq. It was purchased by the late Messrs Lelièvre & Angers, barristers, connected with two or three adjacent tenements, and rented, about 1852, to Messrs. Azro and Willis Russell (represented now by the Russell Hotel Company) for the St. Louis Hotel. Connected by a door through the wall with the Music Hall, it is a notable landmark in St. Louis street and an object of considerable interest to city cabmen as well, during the season of tourists. Its dining saloon, on the second flow, has witnessed many bountiful repasts, to celebrate social, military, political or literary events, none better remembered than that of the 17th of November, 1880, when the élite of Quebec crowded in unusual numbers— about one hundred and eighty citizens, English and French—to do honour, by a public banquet, to the laureate of the French Academy, M. Louis Honoré Fréchette, [30] to celebrate his receiving in August last, in Paris, from the Académie Française, the unprecedented distinction, for a colonist, of the Grand Prix Monthyon (2,000 livres) for the excellence of his poetry.

Subjoined will be found the names of some of those present, also, extracts from a few of the addresses delivered. We regret much that want of space precludes us from adding more of the eloquent speeches delivered, because they throw light for English readers on the high degree of culture French literature has attained at Quebec. All, we are sure, will rejoice with us that, for the cause of letters, M. Fréchette was timely rescued from the quagmire of political warfare and hustings promises.

THE FRÉCHETTE DINNER, NOVEMBER 17, 1880.

"Mr. L. H. Fréchette, the laureate of the French Academy, was last night the recipient of marks of honor and esteem, in the shape of a magnificent banquet given him at the St. Louis Hotel, by the citizens of Quebec and vicinity. The tables were laid in the large dining hall of the St. Louis Hotel, which was handsomely decorated for the occasion. The walls were partially covered with French and English flags, and wreaths of evergreen surrounded all the windows. Behind the Chairman, on a bracket, was an excellent bust of the Canadian poet, having on either side paintings of scenes in Mr. Fréchette's drama, 'Papineau,' by Mr. E. W. Sewell, Levis.

"Over 125 gentlemen sat down to the banquet, amongs-whom we noticed—
The Honorable Judge Henri T. Taschereau, M. Lefaivre, Consul of
France, Count de Premio-Real, Consul-General of Spain, the Baron
Bols, Consul-General of Belgium, Major Wasson, Consul of the United
States, M. Thors, Hon. W. Laurier, Hon. I. Thibaudeau, Hon. C. A. P.
Pelletier, C.M.G. Hon. D. A. Ross, M.P.P., Achille Larue, N.P.,
Charles Langelier, M.P.P., Hon. H. G. Joly, M.P.P., Hon. F. Langelier,
M.P.P., Hon. Arthur Turcotte, Speaker of the Assembly, Dr. Rinfret,
M.P.P, P. B. Casgrain, N.P., James Dunbar, Esq., Q.C., Nazaire
Turcotte, Dr. Colin Sewell, Oscar Dunn, C. Antil, B. Bédard, G. T.
Davie, G. Paré, Henri Delagrave, W. E. Brunet, E. W Sewell, F. X.
Lemieux, Faucher de St. Maurice, F. M. Dechêne, G. E. T. Rinfret, O.
L. Richardson, Louis Bilodeau, Oscar Lanctôt, N. Levasseur, George
Stewart, jr., Edward Thomas, D. Chambers, F. G. Gautier, Paul de
Cazes, R. J. Bradley, D. J. Montambault, T. Godfroy Papineau, N.P.,
Montreal, De La Broquerie Taché, C. Massiah, James M. LeMoine,
President Literary and Historical Society, W. J. Wyatt, Alphonse
Pouliot, Dr. L. LaRue, Colonel Rhodes, Dr. Pourtier, C. Duquet, V.
Bélanger, Charles Langlois, W. C. Languedoc, Alfred White, Peter
McEwan, George Henry Powell, A. P. Beaulieu, Alfred Lemieux, Elie
Lachance, Richard L. Suffur, Lieut.-Col. Turnbull, H. M. Price, R. St.
B. Young, G. R. White, Captain Gzowski, J. U. Laird, Chariot,
Fitzpatrick, E. Swindell, E. J. Hale, Cecil Fraser, Aug. Stuart, C. V.
M. Temple, Timolaus Beaulieu, C. S. Beaulieu, N. Laforce, George
Bouchard, L. N. Carrier, J. B. Michaud, Dr. Lamontagne. Dr. Collet,
Arthur Lavigne, P. Boutin, M.P.P., F. Fortier, G. Bresse, J. S. C.
Wurtele, M.P.P., P. E. Godbout, Paul Dumas, Lieutenant Drury, Captain
Wilson, H. G. Sheppard, J. B. Charleson, Dr. Hubert LaRue, H. J. J. B.
Chouinard, Président de l'Institut Canadien, H. J. Beemer, J. L.
Renaud, E. W. Méthot, E. C. E. Gauthier, O. Leger, J. E. Pouliot, D.
R. Barry, L. P. Lemay, Jacques Auger, Ernest Pacaud, J. Allaire, M.P.,
T. G. Tremblay, M.P., J. J. Gahan, Joseph Blondeau, Thomas Potvin, J.
B. Z. Dubeau, Frs. Bertrand, J. C. Hamel, Emile Jacot, John Buchanan,
Antoine Carrier, William Breakey.

"The Chair was occupied by Hon. Judge H. T. Taschereau, having on his right the guest of the evening, L. H. Fréchette, the Count Premio- Real, Hon. C. A. P. Pelletier, Mr. Wasson, Hon. F. Langelier, M. Thors of Paris, &c., and on his left the Consul-General for France, Hon. Mr. Laurier, Mr. Bols, Hon. D. Ross, &c.

"The banquet was given in the well-known excellent style of the Russell Hotel Company, which never leaves anything to be desired. After full justice had been done the good things provided for the occasion, silence was obtained, when the following resolution, presented to Mr. Fréchette by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, was read by the Secretary, Mr. Delagrave:—

"At a monthly general meeting of the Literary and Historical Society, held on the 13th October last:

"It was proposed by Commander Ashe, R.N., seconded by R. McLeod, Esq.,

"That the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec has witnessed with the highest satisfaction the literary honours conferred in August last, by the Académie Française, on Monsieur Louis Honoré Fréchette, for the poetical excellence of his two poems, 'Les Fleurs Boréales' and 'Les Oiseaux de Neige.'

"That the Academical crown, encircling the brow of a Canadian poet, ought to be as much prised by Canada as it must be dear to its gifted son, the Laureate of the French Academy.

"That such a signal distinction conferred by the highest literary tribunal, whilst it exhibits in such a favourable light the intellectual vigour of the Province of Quebec, cannot be otherwise than a subject of legitimate pride to the Dominion of Canada.

"That the President and Secretary of this Society be charged with the
pleasant duty of conveying to Monsieur L. H. Fréchette the expression
of the sentiments of admiration with which it views his literary
success.

(Signed,) J. M. LEMOINE, President
ALEX. ROBERTSON, Secretary

Quebec, 13th October, 1880.

"The usual loyal toasts—the Queen and Governor-General—were given by the Chairman, and enthusiastically honoured.

"The Chairman then proposed "France," the toast being received with the usual honours and responded to by M. Lefaivre, the Consul-General for France.

"M. Lefaivre made an interesting speech, alluding to the past and present of France, to the communication between the France of the Old World and the Nouvelle France of this Western hemisphere, dwelling upon the honours achieved by the guest of the evening in Paris, and contending that literature was the soul of a nation.

"The Chairman, Hon. Mr. Justice H. Taschereau, then rose to propose the toast of the evening, being received with loud and prolonged cheering. He said,—

"GENTLEMEN,—I have now the honour to propose the toast of the evening—the health of our distinguished fellow-countryman, our guest, Louis Honoré Fréchette, the poet of Canada, crowned by the Academy of France. You have heard, gentlemen, the loud hurrah of all Canada in honour of one of her children, and here, perhaps, I might cease speaking. Nothing that I might say could increase the glad strength of the general voice of the country, when the news arrived here that the grand arena of literature, the French Academy, an institution whose life is counted by centuries, and which is without equal in the world, that great interpreter and infallible judge of the difficulties, the beauties and the genius of the French language, had given one of its annual prizes, and perhaps the finest of all—the prize of poetry—to one of our countrymen. I could never fittingly express or depict the sentiments of pride and joy felt by all lovers of literature in this country—I may add of all good Canadians—when the news came from beyond the ocean, from that sacred France, mother of civilization; from fairy Paris, capital of the Muses, that Mr. Fréchette had been crowned! But, as Chairman of this happy reunion, at the risk of but faintly re-echoing the general sentiment, I must at least try to express my feelings in proposing this toast. The emotions which I feel are of a dual nature, that of friendship and of patriotism, and, as friendship is nearer to the heart, so I gave that feeling the first place. The speaker here referred to his collegiate days in the Seminary of Quebec, where he met Mr. Fréchette, and in preparing himself for the battle of life, had won the friendship of the Canadian poet. He alluded to Mr. Fréchette's first efforts in verse, and had judged his early attempts, and in referring to his (the Judge's) own literary works at the time, the speaker said that the line of Boileau might be applied to him,

"'Pour lui, Phoebus est sourd et Pégase est rétif.'

"At that time, Mr. Fréchette had not reached the heights of Helicon, nor attained the regions wherein the 'Boreal Flowers' are gathered and the 'Snow Birds' fly, but the little flowers he gathered in more modest fields had around them the perfume of genuine poetry, and the emerald, ruby and topaz of art already shone in the dainty plumage of his summer birds. Mr. Fréchette published in a small journal in manuscript, called L'Echo, of which Judge Taschereau was then editor in the Seminary, the first efforts of his muse. This souvenir of the past is now very precious to me, said the speaker, because it enables me to state that I was the first editor of our poet's works. Judge Taschereau further alluded to the time when, with Mr. Fréchette, he studied law, that dry study, and though the poet was thus devoted to the goddess Themis, he nevertheless found time to worship at the shrine of song. How could the poet do otherwise? His fame had already gone abroad. The journals of the country were already publishing his sonnets, odes and songs. His acrostics were sought after to grace the albums of fair ladies. Even the volunteers of Canada asked him for war-songs, which are happily more frequently heard in drawing-rooms than in camps. The young student did not possess himself. He was already the property of the country, and the Institutes of Justinian were put aside for the more pleasing task of framing idyllic pictures of poetic genius. In fact, Crémazie was almost forgotten, and the name of Fréchette was on every tongue. Mr. Taschereau tried to reclaim the poet to his legal duties, and give him the place of Mr. Faucher de St. Maurice in his office. Mr. Fréchette accepted the sinecure, but no sooner had he done so than Mr. Faucher returned, anxious, no doubt, for good and congenial company. Judge of my happiness, with Fréchette and Faucher in my office, and I their humble patron. I thought I would succeed in converting my friends, but in this I failed, for they led me on their own paths until I myself began to versify, and, instead of reading Pothier, read 'proofs' of verses. As it is, Mr. Fréchette did become a lawyer; but Mr. Faucher abandoned the pursuit—he retired from my office, lost forever to Themis, but safe to the cause of literature. The departure of my young friends saved me. I could never expect to win the applause of the French Academy, and thus, as I am enabled to preside at this banquet, I may be permitted to offer our guest a bouquet of friendship's flowers, gathered during twenty-five years, and I feel that its perfume will be agreeable to my distinguished friend. The life of Mr. Fréchette is written in the poetry and literature of this country. He has marched steadily onward from the day on which he wrote his Loisirs, until the grand moment when he stood the crowned victor in the Academy of France. We have known our guest as a lawyer, journalist and member of Parliament, and have always admired his wonderful faculties, ever ready as he was to promote the welfare of his friends. His large heart contributed to pave the way to success, for, undoubted though his talents are, his winning manners won for him an ever-growing popularity, and we may affirm that, if he had traducers, he had, on the other hand, a host of friends. Traducers always follow the wake of a literary man, and they resemble the creeping things which we suffer in our gardens, because their existence can lead to no effectual harm. I may have occupied your time at too great length in treating of Mr. Fréchette as a friend. Allow me now, however, for a few moments, to speak of his success from a patriotic point of view. As French-Canadians, we are proud of our Laureate, and happy to see him in our midst this evening. In crowning our distinguished poet, the French Academy has given a splendid recognition to Canadian literature in the great Republic of Letters. Our Laureate is a French-Canadian, but our fellow-citizens of British origin have joined with us in this manifestation of our joy, and through their press, as at such gatherings as this, they have spontaneously recognized his talent, thus showing their spirit of justice and their enlightened patriotism. Party politics have ceased their discordant cries to join unanimously in honoring our Laureate, and this is a spectacle of consolation to the country. No commentary is required on this expression of our joy. It is, in itself, the most eloquent of proofs that the citizens of Quebec, as well as those of Montreal, in giving this festival to Mr. Fréchette, have invited all Canadians, in the largest acceptation of the word, to do him honour. In concluding, as I know you are anxious to hear him address you this evening, permit me to make a comparison. One of the most distinguished of modern poets, Alfred de Musset, said in a moment of despair:—

"J'ai perdu ma force, et ma vie,
Et mes amis, et ma gaîté:
J'ai perdu jusqu'à la fierté
Qui faisait croire à mon génie."

"'I have lost my strength and my life, my friends and my gayety, almost my very pride, which made me believe in my genius.' We may say to Mr. Fréchette, as an offset to this cry of despair from one of his elder poetic brethren: 'Courage! You have strength and life! More friends than ever! An enthusiasm of gayety which is fathomless! March on and sing! We are proud of you, and we believe in your genius, crowned, as it is, by the highest literary tribunal in the world—that of the Forty Immortals!' (Cheers.)

"The utmost enthusiasm pervaded those present, and when the poet laureate rose to reply, he was greeted with loud applause, which continued for several minutes. Mr. Fréchette said:—

"MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN,—For some time past I have abstained from public speaking, and there are those amongst my best friends who tell me that I have done well. To-day Montreal [31] and Quebec seem to have conspired against me, to oblige me to make two speeches on the same subject. This, though flattering to me, is hardly fair. If, having pleaded in one sense, I were asked to take the opposite ground, it might appear that such would not embarrass a lawyer, and one who has also been a politician, but in my present position I am called upon to treat the same question twice, and absolutely in the same sense. How can I discover something new to advance. Naturally, I felt embarrassed at the outset, but, at any risk, my duty is to respond to your flattering call, and thus to best avenge myself upon this conspiracy of my friends. It will not be surprising if I affirm that the occasion of this reunion has for me a character of especial solemnity. Seated at this festive board, I see the representatives of different nations, who, in private capacities also, have won general respect. I see, also, my fellow-citizens of Quebec and of Levis, my native town—the schoolmates of my earliest days—confrères in professional life and in the walks of literature—comrades of past political struggles—friends, ever indulgent and generous—political leaders of whom I have always been proud, and gentlemen of various origins, divergent opinions and different religious beliefs, all tendering me their warmest congratulations upon the success I have achieved in the literary world. No words of mine are adequate to express my feelings, not can I sufficiently thank you all for this spontaneous and sympathetic demonstration in honour of one who regrets that he is not more worthy of your favour. I can only accept your evidences of friendship with cordial emotion, thank you from the depth of my heart and bear with me from this hall a proud memory which will unite with the remembrances of my youth, all of which are so intimately identified with the hospitable people of Quebec, and, in so declaring, I am but assuring you that this remembrance will ever attend upon me. The past vouches for this; for when my tent of exile shook in the winds from off the great Western lakes, or slept on the bowery shores of Louisianian streams; when my traveller's skiff was rocked on the waters of the Southern gulfs, or was reflected on the blue waves of the Loire; when I had before me the wild majesty of Niagara, the immensity of the ocean, or when, filled with admiration, I paused to gaze upon the stupendous monuments of the Old World, my thoughts ever instinctively flew back to the good old city of Champlain, unparalleled in the world for the picturesque splendor of its site, and the poetry which no less issues from the very stones of its fortress, than it lingers upon every page of its history. Yes! Old Quebec! In all places I have cherished with devotion every memory of you, for within your walls my heart first opened to the noble teaching of intellect! It is your lofty embrasures—your flag, bravely floating in the skies—your abrupt rock, your stretches of ramparts, your brilliant steeples, reflecting their beauty on the bosom of the St. Lawrence, mingled with the sails of your cosmopolitan navies; which, for the first time, awoke the poetic enthusiasm in my breast. Long ago I first saw these scenes from the window of an humble cottage of Levis, half-hidden in a screen of foliage; and in my youngest days, ere I knew the method or formation of a verse, I felt the fluttering against the cage of my heart of that golden bird, whose sonorous voice is styled Poetry. In fact, gentlemen, I was carried towards a literary career from the very outset, and in this connection you will permit me to relate a little anecdote. You will pardon me if I appear egotistical, but your cordial reception warrants me in looking for your indulgence. I had learned to read in a book full of reveries and sentiment, entitled 'Letters or the poet Gilbert to his sister.' Of course I understood but little of it, yet it made a deep impression on my imagination. One day my father, an honest man and good citizen, if there were ever any such, but who had nothing in common with the Muses, asked my brother and I what professions we would adopt when we grew big. 'For me,' replied my happy-hearted brother Edmond, 'I will be a carter,' and 'I will be a poet,' I immediately added. I still remember my father's smile of affectionate pity when he heard these unexpected declarations from the hopes of his declining years. "My poor children," said he, with a resigned air, "these two occupations will never lead you to wealth and fortune." Later I understood the wise reflection of my father, but no one carves out his own destiny and he must submit to fate. I have vainly tried other careers but finally was obliged to return to this dream of my infancy. As the poet says,

"Drive away the natural, and it returns at full speed."

Yes, dear old City of Quebec, so old and so glorious, so beautiful in your ensemble and so characteristic in your details, so cordial and so hospitable, in presence of your noblest children assembled here to welcome me, within your old walls, let me give this testimony, that if I have had the happiness of causing the Canadian name to be heard in the immortal shrine of French literature it is to you I owe it, and to you is my gratitude offered. For I must tell you, gentlemen, that I loved Quebec too much, at the distance, not to hasten across the river, when the bird felt that his wings were strong enough to fly. At that time the greatest of the poets of Quebec, Octave Crémazie, sang the glories of our ancestors and the brave deeds of old France. His energetic and inspired voice excited youthful emulation. A group of budding writers surrounded him, but each one felt timid and hesitated to tune his notes amongst the loud echoes of his vigorous patriotism. Alas! the star fled from our skies, another generation of enthusiastic poets and writers disputed the honour of seizing the lyre, so heavy for their fingers, which had been left on the rock of Quebec, by the author of the Flag of Carillon. O! my old comrades, do you think as frequently as do I, of those old days, when with hearts full of poetic illusions, we united our talents, our hopes and I might add our poverty, to establish that spiritual association in which the beautiful was idolized, seekers as we were after the ideal, dealers in mental bijouterie, despised at first by some, but which succeeded more than once in directing the attention of literary France to our shores? Do you, at times, remember our joyful meetings, our interminable readings, our long hours of continued study and waking reveries in common—do you yet remember the bewildering evenings in which the glass of Henri Murger mingled its sonorous tinklings, bright and merry, to the love-song of our flowery youth? We were all rivals, but

"Our hearts, as our lute, vibrated as one,"

and God knows that this rivalry never severed the bonds of affection which united us, and so was founded what has since been styled the Mutual Admiration Society. Mutual Admiration Society! If we were to consider the number of books, dress-coats, gloves and other articles of more intimate character that were exchanged between us, it might more safely have been called the Society for Mutual Support. At all events, from the spectacle before me this evening I gather that this Society of Mutual Admiration, if admiration it must be termed, has taken a singular development since I had the honour of assisting so frequently at its meetings, and there is nothing surprising in this, since one of the most distinguished of the founders of this society, Mr. Faucher de St. Maurice, informed me the other day that the society in question was about to annex the French Academy. (Laughter.) But to be serious, allow me to recount another anecdote. There was a time, gentlemen, when our Mutual Admiration was far from being so ambitious as to dream of having a succursale under the rotunda of the French Institute. But if our productions were meagre, our revenues were still more so, and famine often reigned in the chests of the confraternity. However we had our own days of abundance when there was corn in Egypt. The first Quebecer who understood that poetry, unlike perpetual motion, could not feed itself, was a brewer, whose memory is now legendary and who was known by the harmonious name of McCallum. Arthur Casgrain, who in a couple of years afterwards we sorrowfully bore to the cemetery, had thought of composing an Epic on the Grand Trunk. This was called "La grande Tronciade!" Well in one of the twelve parts of this production, so very original, there were three remarkable lines.

"Buvons, buvons, amis, de ce bon maccallome,
Venant directement du brasseur qu'il dénome!
C'est ça qui vous retape et vous refait un homme?"

The effect was magical. The heart of the brewer was touched. A long waggon on which we could read the eloquent words "pale ale and porter" stopped next day before our door. For twenty minutes a man with burthened step climbed the Jacob's ladder which led to the poet's attic, and one hundred and forty-four bottles of inviting appearance ranged themselves around the chamber. I cannot picture the joy of the happy recipient. In his enthusiasm he offered me a community in his good fortune—of course under a pledge of inviolable secrecy. But as I felt the imperious necessity of communicating my emotions I was as wanting in discretion as he had been, and that evening all the Bohemians, students and literary friends even to the remotest degree followed in the wake of McCallum's bottles, and invaded the attic chamber of poor Arthur (your good-natured cousin, Mr. President.) There we had French, English, Latin and Greek speeches in prose and in verse. Arsène Michaud has even prepared a story for the occasion. In brief, the hecatomb was made; the libation was Olympic, the twelve dozen disappeared and on the morrow poor Casgrain showed me with a sad face the Homeric remains of his one day's wealth, and in a lamentable tone of despair he exclaimed: "I will have to write another poem." Gentlemen, that was the first time in Canada that poetry made a return to its author, and in tasting these delicate viands which the hospitable city of Quebec now offers to one of those early Bohemians in recognition of his literary success, I could not fail to recollect with emotion this amusing circumstance now enveloped, with other scenes of youth, sometimes glad—sometimes sorrowful, in the shadowy robe of past recollections. Another story just suggests itself to my mind. Lusignan and I occupied the attic of an old house in Palace street. Our room was heated by a stove-pipe, which reached from the lower apartments. One day I had published in Le Canadien—Tempora Mutantur—a little poem in which was the following line:

"Shivering in my attic poor."

The next day a surprise awaited us. A dumb stove had replaced the mere stove-pipe, and while holding our sides from laughter we heard this speech: "Gentlemen, we are very indulgent, considering your noisy meetings—we are not very particular when rent-day arrives—and if you so shivered in your room, it would have been better to have said so privately, than to have complained of it in the newspapers." (Laughter.) Poor Mrs. Tessier, our landlady—she was not well acquainted with figures of speech, but she has been the Providence of many of the destitute, and more than one who hears me now can say as I do, that no better or more obliging heart ever beat in a more pitiful bosom towards purseless youth. And who knows, it is perhaps due to this sympathetic feeling of its population towards literary men and writers that this city of Quebec has seen such an array of talent within her bosom, such a succession of Pleiades of distinguished litterateurs, who have glorified her name and that of their country. For the last fifty years, men eminent in all branches of literature have made a gorgeous and resplendent aureole around the city of Quebec. In the generation immediately preceding us, we see Petitclerc, Parent, Soulard, Chauveau, Garneau, L'Ecuyer, Ferland, Barthe and Réal Angers, these grand pioneers of intellect, who in history, poetry, drama and romance, made such a wide opening for the generation which followed them. Then we have l'Abbé Laverdière, l'Abbé Casgrain, LeMoine, Fiset, Taché, Plamondon, LaRue, and the first among all Octave Crémazie, who coming at different times bravely and constantly continued the labours of their predecessors, until we reach the brilliant phalanx of contemporary writers, Lemay, Fabre, l'Abbé Begin, Routhier, Oscar Dunn, Faucher de St. Maurice, Buies, Marmette and Legendre, all charged with the glorious task of preserving for Quebec her legitimate title of the Athens of Canada. And how could it be otherwise? Is not Quebec the cradle of our nationality—the spot whereon is engraved the most illustrious pages of our history—heroic annals, touching souvenirs, all combining with the marvels of nature to speak here the soul of the historian and of the poet. What a flourishing field for the historian and poet is not the tale of that handful of Breton heroes, who, three centuries ago, planted on the rock of Quebec the flag of Christianity and civilization! What innumerable sources of inspiration can we not find in our majestic river, our gigantic lakes, our grand cascades, our lofty mountains, our impenetrable forests and in all that grand and wild nature, which will ever be the characteristic feature of our dear Canada. Oh! our history, gentlemen! Oh, the picturesque beauties of our country! Two marvellous veins—two mines of precious material open at our feet. The European writers are ever striving to discover something fresh. Having exhausted all kinds of themes, they are now stooping to the dust to find an originality which seems to fly from them. Well, this freshness, this originality, so courted and so rare now-a-days, may be found within our grasp,—it is there in our historical archives—in our patriarchal customs—in the many characters of a people young and thirsting for independence—a robust and healthy poetry, floats on our breezes—breathes in our popular songs—sings in the echoes of our wild forests, and opens graceful and proud her white wings to the winds of the free aspirations of the new world. To us this virgin field belongs, gentlemen! Take from Europe her form and experience, but leave to her, her old Muses. Let us be true to ourselves! Be Canadians and the future is ours. "That which strikes us most in your poems" said a member of the French Academy to me, "is that the modern style, the Parisian style of your verses is united to something strange, so particular and singular—it seems an exotic, disengaged from the entire." This perfume of originality which this writer discovered in my writings was then unknown to myself. What was it? It was the secret of their nationality,—the certificate of their origin, their Canadian stamp! And it is important for us, gentlemen, never to allow this character to disappear. Let our young writers stamp it broadly on their pages and then advance to their task, they need no longer fear the thorns on the way. The path is wide open and millions of readers await their efforts. To the work then; France offers us her hand, and now that we have renewed the bonds between us and our illustrious and well-beloved mother country—bonds broken by the vicissitudes which occur in the life of peoples, we shall be enabled once more to prove the great truth enunciated by Bulwer Lytton in "Richelieu," that

"The pen is mightier than the sword."

The Chairman called upon Hon. Wilfred Laurier to propose the next toast.

Hon. Mr. Laurier, on being called on to propose the toast of the Academy of France, was loudly cheered on rising, and the enthusiasm became the greater as he advanced, showing the many claims the great French tribunal of letters had upon the attention of the learned word. He spoke of the old ties which bound France and Canada, and alluded to the argument of Doucet, the French Academician, in favour of the admission of Fréchette to the French concours, viz., that when France was in the throes of agony, the voice of French Canada spoke out its loud attachment to the cause of the ancient mother country. In such action was the forgotten daughter restored to its sorrowing mother. The hon. gentleman then in language of forcible eloquence referred to the pleasure shown by English-Canadians at the success of Mr. Fréchette, and concluded a highly intellectual and eloquent speech, amidst the reiterated cheers of the whole assemblage.

The Chairman then proposed the toast of English and French literature.

Mr. George Stewart, jr., who on rising was greeted with cheers, said:—

MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN:—I must thank you for the very enthusiastic manner in which you have just drank to this toast, and for the cordiality with which you have been good enough to receive my name. Before asking you to consider with me the subject which has just been so happily proposed from the chair, I would ask your permission to say how gratified I am at being present, this evening, to assist you in paying homage to one whom we all delight to honour, and at whose feet it is our special privilege to sit. (Cheers.) It is all of seventeen years since Mr. Fréchette gave to the public, in a little book, the best fruits of his youthful muse, but those early efforts of his mind gave abundant promise of future excellence and hope,—a promise which has since been admirably and delightfully fulfilled. I cannot tell you how proud we all feel,—we who speak the English tongue, alike with you who utter the liquid and mellow language of Béranger and De Musset,—that the "Forty Immortals" of Mother France, recognized in Mr. Fréchette,—what all of us knew before,—that he was a tender and graceful poet, and that his work is as pure and sweet as anything to be found in the lyric poetry of our time. (Cheers.) Mr. Fréchette had not to go abroad to find that out, but it is pleasing to us all to find our opinions confirmed and ratified by the highest authority in France. I again thank you, gentlemen, for the privilege which you have afforded me of saying these few words regarding our laurel-crowned poet and guest. (Applause.) With regard to the subject which has brought me to my feet, what am I to say? I might dilate upon the beauties of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, or Edmund Spenser's immortal Faerie Queene, or Shakespeare's tender women, the Juliet we love, the Rosalind who is ever in our hearts, the Beatrice, the Imogen, gentle Ophelia, or kindly but ill-starred Desdemona, or the great heroes of tragedy, Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet or Othello, or I might ask you to hear a word about Ben Jonson, "rare Ben," or poor Philip Massinger who died a stranger, of the Puritan Milton, the great Catholic Dryden, or Swift, or Bunyan, Defoe, Addison, Pope and Burke and grim Sam Johnson who made the dictionary and wrote Rasselas, the Prince of Abyssinia, but there is not time for us to go into the subject as minutely as that. At a dinner of this kind, which is so rich in every delicacy which the most sensitive palate could desire, and which boasts wines as delicate and as fragrant in bouquet as one of Mr. Fréchette's sonnets—(Cheers)—and I might add also as one of my friend LeMay's hopefullest lyrics— (Cheers), it would be ungenerous of me to keep you very long. I will content myself therefore with a remark or two regarding the peculiar features which seem to inspire our literature, at the present time, and by our literature I mean English literature in its broadest sense and amplest significance. Perhaps at no period of letters, in the whole history of literature from the days of Chaucer and Raleigh, from the renaissance, through the classic period, to more modern times, to our own day in fact, has the cultured world seen such a brilliant array of brilliant men and women, who write the English prose which delights our fire-sides, and enriches our minds at the present time. The world has never presented to mankind before, in all its years of usefulness, such a galaxy of great essayists and novelists as we have enjoyed and enjoy now, within a period of fifty or sixty years, and which properly belong to our own age. The era is rich in stalwart minds, in magnificent thinkers, in splendid souls. Carlyle, Emerson, Wilson, Morley, Froude, Holmes, Harrison, Darwin, Huxley, Spencer, Mill, Buckle, Lewes. In fiction the list is too long for mention, but, in passing, I may note George Eliot—a woman who writes as if her soul had wings, William Black who paints almost as deftly as Walter Scott, Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope, Thackeray, Dickens, Reade, William Howells, who has not forgotten to write of the grandeur of the Saguenay, and William Kirby whose Chien d'Or will serve to keep a memory green in many a Quebecer's heart. I need hardly name more. The list could, I am well aware, be extended indefinitely, and as each of you doubtless has your favourite novelist, I need not waste your time by the simple enumeration of men and women who have from time to time, beguiled away the hours with their stories of the heart, or of purpose, or of endeavour. We get blasé now and then perhaps through the reading of so many moderns, but the cure for that lies within easy range. We can take a peep at those old fellows in old- fashioned bindings, who used to delight our grandfathers in the "brave days of old," when Richardson told the story of "Pamela," and "Clarissa Harlowe," when Fielding wrote "Tom Jones," and Smollett narrated the history of "Humphrey Clinker," and the career of "Tristram Shandy" found a truthful historian in that mad parson Lawrence Sterne. We might even read those ancient authors, ancient in style at least, for a change, and still be reading English literature in its truest and widest sense. But it is less with the fiction- writers that we have to deal, than with the thinkers who have given to belles-lettres in this age, its robustness and vigour. In political economy, in scientific thought, in history, in moral philosophy and in polite learning, and in criticism, I think our day has produced the greatest teachers, as well as the largest number of them since the English tongue had a literature of its own. (Applause.) This is true at least in prose writing. I know that in poetry we are surpassed in grandeur and majesty by the bards of other periods of our mental activity, I know that we have not produced a Milton yet, nor a Dryden, nor a Pope—I leave Shakespeare and Chaucer out of the question, nor a Spenser. We have very many more than our share of really tuneful singers and fine poets like Tennyson and Longfellow, Morris and Swinburne, the Arnolds and Lowell—all of them sweet and in every way charming, none of them grand and magnificent like the sons of song of the great days of poesy. We have singers and singers, minor poets and minor poets, all engaged in weaving for our delight very many pretty fancies; graceful story-tellers in verse, if you will, but our chief strength lies in prose, sober, scholarly and healthful prose. Our fame will rest on that branch of the service. (Applause.) Turning to Canada, I might say that our mental outfit is by no means beggarly. In fiction we have produced, and I confine myself particularly to those who have written in English, Judge Haliburton, James DeMille, Wm. Kirby, John Lesperance. (Applause.) In poetry, Heavysege, John Reade, Roberts, Charles Sangster, Wm. Murdoch, Chandler, Howe; in history, Beamish Murdoch, Todd, Morgan, Hannay, Mr. LeMoine—(Applause)—whom I see present here to night; Dr. Miles, Mr. Harper, the efficient Rector of our High School, and others of more or less repute. In Science, Dr. Dawson and Sir Wm. Logan; in logic, Wm. Lyall; in rhetoric, James DeMille. In political and essay writing we have a good list, the most prominent names being Goldwin Smith, whom we may fairly claim, Bourinot, Haliburton, Todd, Howe, Elder, Ellis, Griffin, Anglin, Dymond, McDougall, White. (Cheers.) And here I would just say to you—for I have spoken longer than I intended—over-taxed your patience I fear very much—that we must, if we would ever become great in helping to form current thought and the intellectual movement of the day, renounce all sectionalism in letters, and go in for the great goal which all may aspire to who wish. When the French Academy hailed our friend Fréchette as a brother poet, the act was not done because he was a Canadian, but because he was a poet, writing and speaking the French tongue. (Applause.) There is no such thing really as Canadian literature or American literature. It is all English literature, and we should all strive to add to the glory of that literature. We can do it, in our way, as well as Moore and Lover and Lever and Carleton and McGee did, when they added the splendid work of their genius to build up the renown and prestige of the parent stock. (Applause.) As Scott and Burns, Dunbar and Hector McNeill, and Tannahill and James Hogg and bluff "Kit North;" all of Scotland, did to make the English literature massive and spirited and grand. (Applause.) As Hawthorne and Longfellow, Holmes and Bryant, Cooper and Irving, and Motley did, and as our own John Reade (cheers) and Charles Roberts, a new poet whose star has just arisen, and Bourinot— (cheers)—and the rest of them are doing now. We must forget the small localism which can do us no good, and join the great brotherhood of letters which writes the world over, in the English tongue. France, Germany and Russia, Italy and Spain teem with the grand work of their children. We who speak and write in the English language must not be unmindful of our several duties. We must work for the attainment of the great end, the development of English literature, of which we are as truly a part as the authors of the United States, of Scotland, of Ireland and of England. English literature does not mean simply a literature written solely by Englishmen. It takes its name from the fact that it draws its nourishment from all writers who write in English, and Scotchmen, Irishmen, Americans, and colonists, as well as citizens of England are invited to add to its greatness and permanency. I thank you Mr. Chairman and you gentlemen for your kindness and forbearance in listening to me so long, and so patiently. (Loud continued cheering.)

Mr. Lemay, in replying for French literature, said—It is particularly agreeable to be called on to speak on this occasion because it affords me the opportunity to render to our host an evidence of the admiration and friendship which I bear towards him this evening. It is now over twenty years since we were together at College, and the same tastes which pleased us then govern us now. The same destiny which led us towards the bar guided us also on the paths of literature. The speaker here improvised a magnificent address to the genius of French-Canadian letters. He alluded to the first pages of Canadian history written in the blood of martyrs, thus giving to the Canadian people a literature of heroes. The speaker then traced the changeful epochs from the days of the soldiers of the sword to the warriors of the pen, and he drew forth loud applause as he alluded to the brave polemists who traced their literary endeavors in the brave work of defending their country and redeeming its liberties. In quoting Sir Geo. Cartier's well known line, "O Canada, my country and my love," ("O Canada, mon pays, mes amours,") the eloquent orator elicited the warm and hearty applause of the assemblage. From the troublous days of 1837 to the present moment, Mr. Lemay reviewed the various efforts at literary renown of the French Canadian people, and concluded one of the finest speeches of the evening amidst the tumultuous applause of his sympathising auditors.

The next toast was that of the Literary and Historical Society and of the Institut Canadien of Quebec.

Mr. J. M. LeMoine, in replying to the first part of the toast said:—

GENTLEMEN,—In the name of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, I thank you cordially for the health just proposed—As the President of a society numbering close on 400 members, who though diverse in creed and language, are united for one common object—the promotion of culture and science and the encouragement of historical studies,—I cannot help feeling I stand here somehow in the character of a representative man. In tendering a welcome to Mr. Fréchette, our honoured guest, I can add but little to the sentiments conveyed in the resolution adopted at our last meeting and which you have heard read. In presence of so many distinguished persons, several of whom have made their mark, at the Bar—or on the Bench—the forum—in literature—in the bank parlor or in the counting house,—with so many fluent speakers here present and prepared to applaud, with all the graces of oratory and fervour of patriotism,—the distinction conferred on French Canada, by the highest literary tribunal in France—convinced myself of the honour which Mr. Fréchette's laurels must confer on this ancient and picturesque Province of Quebec, with its glorious though yet unrevealed destinies, I feel proud as a Canadian in standing here, the bearer even of a solitary rosebud for the fragrant bouquet, which a grateful country offers this night to its gifted child. Alas! had not the relentless hand [32] of death—had not a self-imposed fate, darker even than death, removed from our midst, another "mind pregnant with celestial fire," Canada this night might possibly have counted two laurel-crowned poets—Louis Honoré Fréchette and Octave Crémazie. For I am not one of those who refuse to recognize Canadian talent; on the contrary, I feel myself moved to rejoice in our wealth of intellect. I am reminded to be brief; around me there is a surging stream of eloquence ready to burst through its floodgates. I must give way. With your permission, I shall therefore merely ask a question. What propitious turn of fortune? which of the benign fairies who watched over his natal hour has Mr. Fréchette to thank for his present success? How came it to pass that, though he was born a poet, he should have to undergo an ordeal like another great poet (whom posterity may specially claim as an historian) the author of the "Lays of Ancient Rome," of emancipating himself from his earthy—at one time not burdensome—thraldom before soaring on the wings of poesy to that lofty region, where his classic diction and lyric power attracted the attention of those worthy but fastidious gentlemen, yclept "The Forty Immortals of the French Academy." I have mentioned a very illustrious name in the Republic of Letters,—a name as dear to Britain as that of our Laureate ought to be to Canada—that of Macaulay—historian, essayist, poet. You all know how his parliamentary defeat as candidate for Edinburgh in 1847, rescued him forever from the "dismal swamp" of politics, providing his wondrous mind, with leisure to expand and mature, in the green fields of literature. If New France has not yet produced such a gorgeous genius as he, of whom all those who speak Chatham's tongue are so justly proud, it has however out of its sparse population of one million, put forth a representative whom Old France with its thirty- eight millions has deemed a fit subject to honour in an unmistakable way. Shall I tell you how, figuratively, if you should prefer, ended for Fréchette the "day of tumult"?

That Ignis Fatuus, ambition, has allured, as you are aware, more than one youthful fowler to an uncertain swampy hunting ground, called "politics." Mr. Fréchette was one of the unfortunate. This game preserve, I pronounce "uncertain" because owing to several inexplicable eventualities sportsmen innumerable, therefrom return empty handed, whilst others, Mr. Chairman, make up, we know, pretty good bags. The Son of Apollo, whilst thus hunting one gruesome, windy morning, fortunately for us, sank in a boggy, yielding quicksand. Luckily he extricated himself in time, and on reaching the margin of the swamp, there stood an old pet of his tethered as if waiting for its loved rider, a vigorous Norman or Percheron steed. Our friend bestrode him, cantered off, and never drew rein until he stood, panting perhaps, but a winner in the race, on the top of a mount, distant and of access arduous, called Parnassus.

In conclusion, Mr. LeMoine quoted the memorable lines from Macaulay, written the night when his parliamentary defeat at Edinburgh, in 1847, restored him to letters:—

The day of tumult, strife, defeat, was o'er,
Worn out with toil, and noise, and scorn, and spleen,
I slumbered and in slumber saw once more
A room in an old mansion, long unseen.

That room, methought, was curtained from the light;
Yet through the curtains shone the moon's cold ray
Full on a cradle, where, in linen white,
Sleeping life's first sleep, an infant lay.

* * * * *

And lo! the fairy queens who rule our birth
Drew nigh to speak the new-born baby's doom:
With noiseless step, which left no trace on earth,
From gloom they came, and vanished into gloom.

Not deigning on the boy a glance to cast
Swept careless by the gorgeous Queen of Gain.
More scornful still, the Queen of Fashion passed,
With mincing gait and sneer of cold disdain.

The Queen of Power tossed high her jewelled head
And o'er her shoulder threw a wrathful frown.
The Queen of Pleasure on the pillow shed
Scarce one stray rose-leaf from her fragrant crown.

Still fay in long procession followed fay;
And still the little couch remained unblest:
But, when those wayward sprites had passed away,
Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best.

Oh! glorious lady, with the eyes of light,
And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow,
Who by the cradle's side didst watch that night,
Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou?

"Yes, darling; let them go," so ran the strain:
"Yes; let them go, gain, fashion, pleasure, power,
And all the busy elves to whose domain
Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour.

"Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme,
The nether sphere, the fleeting hour assign.
Mine is the world of thought, the world of dream,
Mine all the past, and all the future mine.

* * * * *

"Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace,
I, from thy natal day, pronounce thee free;
And, if for some I keep a nobler place,
I keep for none a happier than for thee.

* * * * *

"No; when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow,
When weary soul and wasting body pine,
Thine am I still in danger, sickness, sorrow,
In conflict, obloquy, want, exile, thine;

"Thine where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream,
Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze,
Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam
Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas;

* * * * *

"Amidst the din of all things fell and vile,
Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray,
Remember me!"

FORT ST. LOUIS, CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS, HALDIMAND CASTLE.

CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS.

In Professor Kalm's saunter round Quebec, his description of the public edifices, in 1749, is worthy of note:

"The Palace (Château Saint Louis) says he, is situated on the west or steepest side of the mountain, just, above the lower city. It is not properly a palace, but a large building of stone, two stories high, extending north and south. On the west side of it is a court-yard, surrounded partly with a wall, and partly with houses. On the east side, or towards the river, is a gallery as long as the whole building, and about two fathoms broad, paved with smooth flags, and included on the outside by iron rails, from whence the city and the river exhibit a charming prospect. This gallery serves as a very agreeable walk after dinner, and those who come to speak with the Governor-General wait here till he is at leisure. The palace is the lodging of the Governor-General of Canada, and a number of soldiers mount the guard before it, both at the gate and in the court-yard; and when the Governor, or the Bishop comes in or goes out, they must all appear in arms and beat the drum. The Governor-General has his own chapel where he hears prayers; however, he often goes to Mass at the church of the Récollets, which is very near the palace."

Such it seemed, in 1749, to the learned Swedish naturalist and philosopher Peter Kalm. How many rainbow tints, poetry and romance can lend to the same object, we may learn from the brilliant Niagara novelist, William Kirby! In his splendid historical novel "Le Chien d'Or," whilst venturing on the boldest flights of imagination, he thus epitomises some striking historical features of the state residence of the French Viceroys of Canada.

"The great hall of the Castle of St. Louis was palatial in its dimensions and adornment. The panels of wainscoting upon the walls were hung with paintings of historic interest—portraits of the Kings, Governors, Intendants and Ministers of State, who had been instrumental in the colonization of New France.

"Over the Governor's seat hung a gorgeous escutcheon of the Royal arms, draped with a cluster of white flags, sprinkled with golden lilies—the emblems of French sovereignty in the colony; among the portraits on the walls, beside those of the late (Louis XIV.,) and present King (Louis XV)—which hung on each side of the throne—might be seen the features of Richelieu, who first organized the rude settlements on the St. Lawrence in a body politic—a reflex of feudal France; and of Colbert, who made available its natural wealth and resources, by peopling it with the best scions of the Mother Land—the noblesse and peasantry of Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine. There, too, might be seen the keen, bold features of Cartier, the first discoverer, and of Champlain, the first explorer of the new land, and the founder of Quebec. The gallant, restless Louis Buade de Frontenac was pictured there, side by side with his fair countess, called, by reason of her surpassing loveliness, "The Divine." Vaudreuil, too, who spent a long life of devotion to his country, and Beauharnois, who nourished its young strength until it was able to resist, not only the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, but the still more powerful league of New England and the other English Colonies. There, also, were seen the sharp intellectual face of Laval, its first bishop, who organized the church and education in the colony; and of Talon, wisest of Intendants, who devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture, the increase of trade, and the well being of all the King's subjects in New France. And one more portrait was there, worthy to rank among the statesmen and rulers of New France—the pale, calm, intellectual features of Mère Marie de l'Incarnation—the first superior of the Ursulines of Quebec, who in obedience to heavenly visions, as she believed, left France to found schools for the children of the new colonists, and who taught her own womanly graces to her own sex, who were destined to become the future mothers of New France." (Page 109.)

It were difficult to group on a smaller and brighter canvass, so many of the glorious figures of our storied past.

In the days of de Montmagny and later, the Jesuits' Journal retraces gay scenes at the Château in connection with the festivals of the patron saints, of St. Joseph, whose anniversary occurred on the 19th March, and of St. John the Baptist, whose fête happened on the 24th June.

For a long time the old Château, was the meeting place of the Superior
Council.

"On any Monday morning one would have found the Superior Council in session in the antechamber of the Governor's apartment, at the Château St. Louis. The members sat at a round table, at the head was the Governor, with the Bishop on his right and the Intendant on his left. The councillors sat in the order of their appointment, and the attorney-general also had his place at the board. As La Hontan says, they were not in judicial robes, but in their ordinary dress and all but the Bishop wore swords. The want of the cap and the gown greatly disturbed the Intendant Meules, and he begs the Minister to consider how important it is that the councillors, in order to inspire respect, should appear in public in long black robes, which on occasions of ceremony they should exchange for robes of red. He thinks that the principal persons of the colony should thus be induced to train up their children to so enviable a dignity; "and" he concludes, "as none of the councillors can afford to buy red robes, I hope that the King will vouchsafe to send out nine such; as for the black robes, they can furnish those themselves."

"The King did not respond, and the nine robes never arrived. The official dignity of the Council was sometimes exposed to trials against which even red gowns might have proven an insufficient protection. The same Intendant urges that the tribunal ought to be provided immediately with a house of its own."

"It is not decent," he says, "that it should sit in the Governor's antechamber any longer. His guards and valets make such a noise, that we cannot hear each other speak. I have continually to tell them to keep quiet, which causes them to make a thousand jokes at the councillors as they pass in and out. As the Governor and the council were often on ill terms, the official head of the colony could not always be trusted to keep his attendants on their good behaviour." (Parkman's Old Regime, p. 273.)

At other times, startling incidents threw a pall over the old pile. Thus in August 1666, we are told of the melancholy end of a famous Indian warrior: "Tracy invited the Flemish Bastard and a Mohawk chief named Agariata to his table, when allusion was made to the murder of Chasy. On this the Mohawk, stretching out his arm, exclaimed in a Braggart tone, "This is the hand that split the head of that young man." The indignation of the company may be imagined. Tracy told his insolent guest that he should never kill anybody else; and he was led out and hanged in presence of the Bastard. [33]

Varied in language and nationality were the guests of the Château in days of yore: thus in 1693, the proud old Governor Frontenac had at one and the same time Baron Saint Castin's Indian father-in-law, Madocawando, from Acadia, and "a gentleman of Boston, John Nelson, captured by Villebon, the nephew and heir of Sir Thomas Temple, in whose right he claimed the proprietorship of Acadia, under an old grant of Oliver Cromwell." (Parkman's Frontenac, p. 357.)

FORT ST. LOUIS

Ere one of the last vestiges of the ancien régime, Haldimand Castle, disappears, a few details culled from reliable sources may not be unacceptable, especially as by fire, repairs and the vicissitudes of time, the changes are so great, as to render difficult the delineation of what it originally formed part of in the past.

Grave misconceptions exist as to what constituted the stately residence of our former Governors. Many imagine that the famous Château St. Louis, was but one structure, whilst in reality, it was composed at one time of three, viz:—Fort St. Louis, Château St. Louis and Haldimand Castle, the present Normal School. The writer has succeeded in collecting together nine views of the Fort and Château St. Louis since the days of Champlain down to modern times. Champlain's "brass bell" is conspicuous in more than one of the designs.

According to Father DuCreux, the first fort erected by Champlain on the crest of the promontory, arx aedificata in promontarii cuspidine, was not placed on the site of Dufferin Terrace, but at the south-east point of the area, which is now occupied by the Grand Battery, north-east of the present Parliament building and looking down on Sault-au-Matelot street. Champlain subsequently removed it to a still more elevated site; its bastions, towers and ramparts surrounded the space on which the former Governor's residence, soldier's barracks, magazine, &c., were constructed.

"The fortress, says Bouchette, (Fort) of St. Louis covered about four acres of ground, and formed nearly a parallelogram; on the western side two strong bastions on each angle were connected by a curtain, in the centre of which was a sallyport: the other faces presented works of nearly a similar description, but of less dimensions." [34]

We may add that Fort St. Louis, shown on the plan of Quebec of 1660, published by Abbé Faillon, and more plainly exhibited on Jeffery's map of Quebec, published in London in 1760, disappears after the conquest. No mention is made of it in 1775, and still less in 1784, as a fortress.

Champlain, in his deposition, [35] sworn to, on the 9th Nov. 1629, in London, before the Right Worshipful Sir Henry Martin, Knight, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, describes minutely, the armament and belongings of Fort St. Louis, on the 9th August 1629, when he surrendered it to the Kirkes: cannon such as they were, and ammunition he seems to have had in abundance, without forgetting what he styles "the murderers with their double boxes or charges," a not excessively deadly kind of mitrailleuse or Gatling gun, we should imagine; the Fort also contained a smith's forge, carpenter's tools, machinery for a windmill, and a handmill to grind corn, a brass bell—probably to sound the tocsin, or alarm, at the approach of the marauding savages of Stadacona, the array of muskets—(thirteen complete)—is not formidable. Who was the maker of his pistol-proof coats-of-mail?

NEW CHÂTEAU ST. LOUIS.

"Such dusky grandeur clothed the height
Where the huge castle holds its state,
And all the steep slope down
Whose ridgy back heaves to the sky,
Piled deep and massy, close and high
Mine own romantic town."
(Scott's Marmion.)

"Few circumstances of discussion and enquiry, says Hawkins, are more interesting than the history and fate of ancient buildings, especially if we direct our attention to the fortunes and vicissitudes of those who were connected with them. The temper, genius and pursuits of an historical era are frequently delineated in the features of remarkable edifices, nor can any one contemplate them without expressing curiosity, concerning those who first formed the plan, and afterwards created and tenanted the structure. These observations apply particularly to the subject of this chapter.

The history of the ancient Castle of St. Louis, or Fort of Quebec, for above two centuries the seat of Government in the Province (of Quebec), affords subjects of great and stirring interest during its several periods. The hall of the old Fort during the weakness of the colony was often a scene of terror and despair at the inroads of the persevering and ferocious Iroquois, who, having passed or overthrown all the French outposts, more than once threatened the fort itself and massacred some friendly Indians within sight of its walls. Here, too, in intervals of peace, were laid those benevolent plans for the religious instruction and conversion of the savages which at one time distinguished the policy of the ancient governors. At a later era, when, under the protection of the French kings, the province had acquired the rudiments of military strength and power, the Castle of St. Louis was remarkable as having been the site whence the French governors exercised an immense sovereignty, extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the shores of that noble river, its magnificent lakes, and down the course of the Mississippi to its outlet below New Orleans. The banner which first streamed from the battlements of Quebec was displayed from a chain of forts which protected the settlements throughout this vast extent of country, keeping the English colonies in constant alarm, and securing the fidelity of the Indian nations. During this period the council-chamber of the castle was the scene of many a midnight vigil [36]—many a long deliberation and deep-laid project to free the continent from the intrusion of the ancient rival of France and assert the supremacy of the Gallic lily. At another era, subsequent to the surrender of Quebec to the British armies, and until the recognition of the independence of the United States, the extent of empire of the government of which the Castle of Quebec was the principal seat, comprehended the whole American continent north of Mexico. It is astonishing to reflect for a moment, to how small, and, as to size, comparatively insignificant an island in the Atlantic ocean this gigantic territory was once subject. Here also was rendered to the representative of the French king, with all its ancient forms, the fealty and homage of the noblesse and military retainers, who held possessions in the province under the crown. A feudal ceremony, suited to early times, which imposed a real and substantial obligation on those who performed it, not to be violated without forfeiture and dishonour. The king of Great Britain having succeeded to the rights of the French crown, this ceremony is still retained.

"Fealty and homage is rendered at this day (1834) by the seigniors to the Governor, as the representative of the sovereign, in the following form: His Excellency being in full dress and seated in a state chair, surrounded by his staff, and attended by the Attorney-General, the seignior, in an evening dress and wearing a sword, is introduced into his presence by the Inspector General of the Royal Domain and Clerk of the Land Roll, and having delivered up his sword, and kneeling upon one knee before the Governor, places his right hand between his and repeats the ancient oath of fidelity; after which a solemn act is drawn up in a register kept for that purpose, which is signed by the Governor and the seignior, and countersigned by the proper officers." —(Hawkin's Picture of Quebec.)

The historian, Ferland, Notes sur les Registres de Notre Dame de Quebec, relates one of the earliest instances (1634) of the manner the foi et hommage was rendered. It is that of Jean Guion (Dion?) vassal of Robert Giffard, seignior of Beauport: "Guion presents himself in the presence of a notary, at the principal door of the manor-house of Beauport; having knocked, one Boulle, farmer of Giffard, opened the door and in reply to Guion's question, if the seignior was at home, replied that he was not, but that he, Boulle, was empowered to receive acknowledgments and homage for the vassals in his name. After the which reply, the said Guion, being at the principal door, placed himself on his knees, on the ground, with bare head and without sword or spurs, and said three times these words: 'Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur de Beauport, I bring you the faith and homage which I am bound to bring you on account of my fief Du Buisson, which I hold as a man of faith of your seigniory of Beauport, declaring that I offer to pay my seigniorial and feudal dues in their season, and demanding of you to accept me in faith and homage as aforesaid.'" (Parkman's Old Regime, p 246.)

"Of these buildings (says Bouchette), the Castle of St. Louis being the most prominent object on the summit of the rock—will obtain the first notice.

"It is a handsome stone building seated near the edge of a precipice, * * and supported towards the steep by a solid work of masonry, rising nearly half the height of the edifice, and surmounted by a spacious gallery, * * * The whole pile is 162 feet long by 45 feet broad, and three stories high * * * Each extremity is terminated by a small wing, giving to the whole an easy and regular character.

"It was built shortly after the city was fortified with solid works, * * *—for a long series of years it was neglected, so much as to be suffered to go to decay, and ceasing to be the residence of the Commander-in-Chief, was used only for the offices of Government until the year 1808, when a resolution passed the Provincial Parliament for repairing and beautifying it; the sum of £1,000 was at the same time voted, and the work forthwith commenced.

"The money applied was inadequate to defray the expenses—upon the grand scale the improvements were commenced, but an additional grant was made to cover the whole charge, * * *

"Sir James Craig took possession of it, etc.

"The part properly called the Château occupies one side of the square or court-yard; on the opposite side stands an extensive building (Haldimand Castle) divided among the offices of Government, both civil and military, that are under the immediate control of the Governor, it contains also a handsome suite of apartments where the balls and other public entertainments of the court are always given. During the dilapidated state of the Château, this building was occupied by the family of the Governors. Both the exterior and the interior are in a very plain style, it forms part of the curtain that ran between the two exterior bastions of the old fortress of St. Louis, adjoining it are several other buildings of smaller size, appropriated to similar uses, a guard house, stables, and extensive riding house, of these works only a few vestiges remain, except the eastern wall, which is kept in solid repair. The new guard house and stables, both fronting the parade, have a very neat exterior, the first forms the arc of a circle and has a colonnade before it, the stables are attached to the riding house, which is spacious, and in every way well adapted to its intended purpose, it is also used for drilling the city militia"— (Bouchette's Topography of Lower Canada, 1815, p. 431-4.)

The brilliant biographer of "Frontenac" and author of the, "Old Regime,"
thus sums up from the official correspondence of the French Governors and
Intendants the foundation, reconstructions and alterations in the Fort and
Château.

"This structure," says Francis Parkman, "destined to be famous in Canadian history, was originally built by Samuel de Champlain. The cellar still remains under the wooden platform of the present Durham (now Dufferin) Terrace. Behind the château was the area of the fort, now an open square. In the most famous epoch of its history, the time of Frontenac, the château was old and dilapidated, and the fort was in sad condition." "The walls are all down," writes Frontenac in 1681, "there are neither gates nor guard-houses, the whole place is open." On this the new Intendant Meules was ordered to report what repairs were needed. Meanwhile la Barre had come to replace Frontenac, whose complaints he repeats. He says that the wall is in ruins for a distance of a hundred and eighty toises. "The workmen ask 6,000 francs to repair it. I could get it done in France for 2,000. The cost frightens me. I have done nothing."—(La Barre au Ministre, 1682). Meules, however, received orders to do what was necessary, and, two years later, he reports that he had rebuilt the wall, repaired the fort, and erected a building, intended at first for the council, within the area. This building stood near the entrance of the present St. Louis street, and was enclosed by an extension of the fort wall.

Denonville next appears on the scene, with his usual disposition to fault-finding. "The so-called château," he says (1685), "is built of wood, and is dry as a match. There is a place where with a bundle of straw it could be set on fire at any time,… some of the gates will not close, there is no watchtower, and no place to shoot from."— (Denonville au Ministre, 20 Août, 1685).

When Frontenac resumed the Government, he was much disturbed at the condition of the château, and begged for slate to cover the roof, as the rain was coming in everywhere. At the same time the Intendant Champigny reports it to be rotten and ruinous. This was in the year made famous by the English attack, and the dramatic scene in the hall of the old building when Frontenac defied the envoy of Admiral Phipps, whose fleet lay in the river below. In the next summer, 1691, Frontenac again asks for slate to cover the roof, and for 15,000 or 20,000 francs to repair his mansion.

In the next year the king promised to send him 12,000 francs, in instalments. Frontenac acknowledges the favour, and says that he will erect a new building, and try in the meantime not to be buried under the old one, as he expects to be every time the wind blows hard.— (Frontenac au Ministre, 15 Septembre, 1692). A misunderstanding with the Intendant, who had control of the money, interrupted the work. Frontenac writes the next year that he had been "obliged to send for carpenters during the night, to prop up the château, lest he should be crushed under the ruins." The wall of the fort was, however, strengthened, and partly rebuilt to the height of sixteen feet, at a cost of 13,629 francs. It was a time of war, and a fresh attack was expected from the English.—(Frontenac et Champigny au Ministre, 4 Nov, 1693). In the year 1854, the workmen employed in demolishing a part of this wall, adjoining the garden of the château, found a copper plate bearing an inscription in Latin as follows—

D. O. M.
Anno reparatae salutis
Millesimo sexcentesimo nonagesimo tertio
Regnante Augustissimo Invictissimo ac
Christianissimo Galliae Rege
Rege Ludovico Magno XIIII
Excellentissimus ac Illustrissimus Dnûs Dnux
Ludovicus de Buade
Comes de Frontenac, totius Novae Franciae
Semel et iterum Provex,
Ab ipsomet, triennio ante rebellibus Novae
Angliae incolis, hanc civitatem Quebecensem,
Obsidentibus, pulsis, fusis ac penitus
Devictis,
Et iterum hocce supradicto anno obsidionem
Minitantibus
Hanc arcem cum adjectis munimentis
In totius patriae tutelam populi salutem
Nec non in perfidae, tum Deo, tum suo Regi
Legitimo, gentis iterandum confusionem
Sumptibus regies oedificari
Curavit,
Ac primarium hunc lapidem
Posuit,

JOANNES SOULLARD, Sculpsit

(Translation)

"In the year of Redemption, 1693, under the reign of the Most August, Most Invincible, and Most Christian King of France, Louis the Great, fourteenth of that name, the Most Excellent Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, Governor for the second time of all New France, seeing that the rebellious inhabitants of New England, who three years ago were repulsed, routed, and completely vanquished by him, when they besieged this town of Quebec, are threatening to renew the siege this very year, has caused to be built, at the expense of the King, this Citadel, with the fortifications adjoining thereto, for the defence of the country, for the security of the people, and for confounding again that nation perfidious alike towards its God and its lawful King, and he (Frontenac) has placed here this first stone."

A year later, the rebuilding of the château was begun in earnest. Frontenac says that nothing but a miracle has saved him from being buried under its ruins, that he has pulled everything down, and begun again from the foundation, but that the money has given out.— (Frontenac au Ministre, 4 Nov., 1694) Accordingly, he and the Intendant sold six licenses for the fur trade, but at a rate unusually low, for they brought only 4,400 francs.

The King hearing of this sent 6,000 more. Frontenac is profuse in thanks, and at the same time begs for another 6,000 francs, "to complete a work which is the ornament and beauty of the city" (1696). The Minister sent 8,000 more, which was soon gone; and Frontenac drew on the royal treasurer for 5,047 in addition. The Intendant complains of his extravagance, and says that he will have nothing but perfection; and that besides the château, he has insisted on building two guard-houses, with mansard roofs, at the two sides of the gate. "I must do as he says," adds the Intendant, "or there will be a quarrel." (Champigny au Ministre, 13 Oct., 1697). In a letter written two days after, Frontenac speaks with great complacency of his château, and asks for another 6,000 francs to finish it. As the case was urgent he sold six more licenses at 1,000 francs each, but he died too soon to see the completion of his favorite work (1698). The new château was not finished before 1700, and even then it had no cistern. In a pen sketch of Quebec, on a manuscript map of 1699, preserved in the Dépôt de Cartes de la Marine, the new château is distinctly represented. In front is a gallery or balcony resting on a wall and buttresses at the edge of the cliff. Above the gallery is a range of high windows, along the face of the building, and over these a range of small windows and a mansard roof. In the middle is a porch opening on the gallery, and on the left extends a battery, on the ground now occupied by a garden along the brink of the cliff. A water-colour sketch of the château taken in 1804, from the land side, by William Morrison, Jr., is in my possession. [37] The building appears to have been completely remodelled in the interval. It is two stories in height, the mansard roof is gone, and a row of attic windows surmount the second story. In 1809 it was again remodelled at a cost of ten thousand pounds sterling, a third story was added, and the building, resting on the buttresses which still remain under the balustrade of Durham (Dufferin) Terrace, had an imposing effect when seen from the river. It was destroyed by fire in 1834.—(Parkman's Old Regime.)

HALDIMAND CASTLE

After sketching Fort St. Louis, begun in 1624,—a refuge against the Iroquois, and whose bastions rendered useless disappeared shortly after the conquest, as well as giving the history of the Château St. Louis proper, destroyed by fire 23rd January, 1834, it behoves us to close the narrative with a short account of the origin of the wing or new building still extant, and used since 1871 as the Normal School. This structure generally, though improperly styled the Old Château, dates back to the last century. On the 5th May, 1784, the corner stone was laid with suitable ceremonies, by the Governor-General, Sir Frederick Haldimand; the Château St. Louis had been found inadequate in size for the various purposes required, viz.: a Vice-regal residence, a Council room for the Legislative, the Executive and Judiciary Councils, &c.

The Province was rapidly expanding, as well as the Viceroy's levees, official balls, public receptions, &c.; suites of rooms and stately chambers, became indispensible.

The following incident occurred during its construction:—On the 17th September, 1784, the workmen at the Château in levelling the yard, dug up a large stone with a Maltese cross engraved on it, bearing the date "1647." One of Wolfe's veterans, Mr. James Thompson, Overseer of Public Works, got the masons to lay the stone in the cheek of the gate of the new building. A wood-cut of the stone, gilt at the expense of Mr. Ernest Gagnon, City Councillor in 1872, appeared in the Morning Chronicle of the 24th June, 1880. Let us hope when the site shall be transferred, that the Hon. Premier will have a niche reserved for this historic relic as was so appropriately done by Sir H L Langevin, for the "Chien d'Or" tablet when the new city Post Office was built in 1871-3.

Haldimand Castle soon became a building of note. On the 19th January, 1787, the anniversary of the Queen's Birthday—Charlotte of Mecklenburg, consort of George III., the first grand reception was held there. In the following summer, the future monarch of Great Britain, William IV., the sailor prince, aged 22 years, visited his father's loyal Canadian lieges. Prince William Henry had then landed, on 14th August, in the Lower Town from H. M. frigate "Pegasus." Traditions repeat that the young Duke of Clarence enjoyed himself amazingly among the beau monde of Quebec, having eyes for more than the scenic beauties of the "Ancient Capital," not unlike other worthy Princes who came after him.

"He took an early opportunity of visiting the Ursulines, and by his polite and affable manner quite won the hearts of those worthy ladies."—(Histoire des Ursulines, vol. III, p. 183.)

Sorel, in honour of his visit, changed its name into Fort William Henry. Among other festivities at Quebec, Lord Dorchester, Governor-General, the successor to Sir Frederick Haldimand, on the 21st August, 1787, treated H. R. Highness to a grand pyrotechnic display. "Prince William Henry and his company, being seated on an exalted platform, erected by the Overseer of Public Works, James Thompson, over a powder magazine joining the end of the new building (Haldimand Castle), while the fireworks were displayed on an eminence fronting it below the old Citadel."—(Thompson's Diary.)

THE QUEBEC AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

In the stately reception room of the Castle was founded, in 1789, the Quebec Agricultural Society.

"On the 6th April, the rank and fashion, nobility and clergy of all
denominations, as well as commoners, crowded at the Château St.
Louis, to enter their names as subscribers to the Quebec Agricultural
Society, warmly patronized by his Excellency Lord Dorchester, Hon.
Hugh Finlay, Deputy Postmaster-General, was chosen Secretary.

The Quebec Gazette of the 23rd April, 1789, will supply the names,
the list is suggestive on more points than one.

Rev. Philip Tosey, Military M. Pierre Florence, Rivière
Chaplain. Ouelle
T. Monk, Atty-Genl. T. Arthur Coffin
G. B. Taschereau, Esq. Capt. Chas. St. Ours.
Peter Stewart, Esq. Aug. Glapion, Sup. Jésuites.
Malcolm Fraser, Esq. A. Hubert, Curé de Québec.
William Lindsay, Esq. Juchereau Duchesnay, Esq.
J. B. Deschêneaux, Esq. L. de Salaberry, Esq.
John Lees, Esq. P. Panet, P.C.
John Renaud, Esq. M. Grave, Supérieur, Séminaire
John Young, Esq. John Craigie, Esq.
Mathew Lymburner, Esq. Berthelot D'Artigny, Esq.
John Blackwood, Esq. Perrault l'Aine, Esq.
M. L. Germain, fils. George Allsopp, Esq.
A. Panet, Esq. Robert Lester, Esq.
P. L. Panet, Esq. Alex. Davidson, Esq.
A. Gaspé, Esq., St. Jean Port The Chief Justice (W. Smith).
Joly. Hon. Hugh Finlay.
M. Ob. Aylwin. Hon. Thos. Dunn.
The Canadian Bishop. Hon. Edw. Harrison.
M. Bailly, Coadjutor. Hon. John Collins.
T. Mervin Nooth, Dr. Hon. Adam Mabane.
Henry Motz, Dr. Hon. J. G. C. DeLéry.
Jenkins Williams. Hon. Geo. Pownall.
Isaac Ogden, Judge of Admiralty. Hon. Henry Caldwell.
Messire Panet, Curé of Rivière Hon. William Grant.
Ouelle. Hon. Francois Baby.
Sir Thomas Mills. Hon. Saml. Holland.
François Dambourges, Esq. Hon. Geo. Davidson.
Capt. Fraser, 34th Regt. Hon. Chas. De Lanaudière.
Kenelm Chandler, Esq. Hon. LeCompte Dupré.
J. T. Cugnet, Esq. Major Mathews.
J. F. Cugnet, Esq. Capt. Rotson.

THE LOYAL LEAGUE.

Could that patriotic feeling which, ten years later, in 1799, enlisted Quebecers of all creeds to support Great Britain, then at war with regicide France, have been inspired by the sturdy old chieftain, who hailed from the Castle,—General Robert Prescott? It was indeed a novel idea, that loyal league, which exhibited both R. C and Anglican Bishops, each putting their hands in their pockets to help Protestant England to rout the armies of the "eldest son of the Church," represented by the First Consul; so general and so intense was the horror inspired by revolutionary and regicide France.

Though in the past, as at present, attempts were occasionally made to stir up discord amongst our citizens, there appears more than once, traces of enlarged patriotism and loyalty to the mother country, animating all classes. This seems conspicuous in the public invitation by men of both nationalities, inserted in a public journal, for 1799, to form a national fund in order to help England with the war waged against France; this invitation not only bears the signatures of leading English citizens, but also those of several Quebecers of French extraction, rejoicing in old and historic names such as the following."—(Quebec, Past and Present, page 244.)

Hon. William Osgood, C. Justice. John Young.
Hon. Francois Baby. Louis Dunière.
Hon. Hugh Finlay. J. Sewell.
Hon. J. A. Panet. John Craigie.
Hon. Thos. Dunn. Wm. Grant.
Hon. Ant. Juchereau Duchesnay Rob. Lester.
Hon. George Pownall. Jas. Sheppard, Sheriff.

Mr. Panet, one of the signers, was Speaker of our Commons for twenty-
two years later on. The city journals contain the names and amounts
subscribed, as follows:—

J. Quebec ……………………………. £300 0 0
Wm. Osgood …………………………… 300 0 0
George Pownall ……………………….. 100 guineas
Henry Caldwell ……………………….. £300 0 0
George W. Taylor, .. per annum during war… 5 0 0
A. J. Baby, …………. " " …….. 5 0 0
Geo. Heriot, ………… " " …….. 50 0 0
Chs. De Léry, ……….. " " …….. 12 0 0
John Blackwood, ……… " " …….. 10 0 0
Wm. Burns, ………….. " " …….. 20 0 0
Le Séminaire de Quebec, . " " …….. 50 0 0
J. A. Panet, ………… " " …….. 30 0 0
John Wurtele, ……….. " " …….. 4 0 0
Wm. Grant, ………….. " " …….. 32 4 5
Wm. Bouthillier, …….. " " …….. 3 10 0
Juchereau Duchesnay, …. " " …….. 20 0 0
James Grossman, ……… " " …….. 10 0 0
Henry Brown, ………… " " …….. 0 10 0
Thos. Dunn, …………. " " …….. 66 0 0
Peter Boatson, ………. " " …….. 23 6 8
Antoine Nadeau, ……… " " …….. 0 6 0
Robert Lester, ………. " " …….. 30 0 0
Le Coadjutor de Quebec, . " " …….. 25 0 0
Thos. Scott, ………… " " …….. 20 0 0
Chs. Stewart, ……….. " " …….. 11 2 2
Samuel Holland, ……… " " …….. 20 0 0
Jenkin Williams, …….. " " …….. 55 11 1
Francois Baby, ………. " " …….. 40 0 0
G. Elz. Taschereau, ….. " " …….. 10 0 0
M. Taschereau, Curé de St. Croix, " …….. 5 0 0
Thos. Taschereau, ……. " " …….. 5 0 0
Monro & Bell, ……….. " " …….. 100 0 0
J. Stewart, …………. " " …….. 11 13 4
Louis Dumon, ………… " " …….. 23 6 8
Rev. Frs. de Montmollin, " " …….. 10 0 0
Xavier de Lanaudière, … " " …….. 23 6 8
Peter Stewart, ………. " " …….. 11 2 2
Messire Raimbault, Ange-Gardien, " …….. 4 13 5
Messire Villase, Ste. Marie, " …….. 4 13 4
Messire Bernard Panet, Rivière Ouelle, ….. 5 0 0
Messire Jacques Panet, Islet, " ……. 25 0 0

See Quebec Gazette, 4th July, 1799.
See Quebec Gazette, 29th August, 1799.

AN ANTIQUE STONE.

"Praetorian here, Praetorian there, I mind the bigging o't"— (The Antiquary)

[Illustration: THE OLD CHÂTEAU STONE]

Some years back a spicy little controversy was waged among our Quebec antiquarians as to the origin and real date of the stone in the wall adjoining the Old Château, the two last figures of the inscription being indistinct.

Was it 1646, 1647 or 1694? After deep research, profound cogitation and much ink used in the public prints, 1647, the present date, prevailed, and Mr. Ernest Gagnon, then a City Councillor, had this precious relic restored and gilt at his cost.

The date 1647 also agrees with the Jesuits Relation, which states that, in 1647, under Governor de Montmagny, one of the bastions was lined with stone; additional light was thrown on this controversy, by the inspection of a deed of agreement, bearing date at Fort St. Louis, 19th October, 1646, exhumed from the Court House vaults, and signed by the stonemasons who undertook to revetir de murailles un bastion qui est au bas de l'allee du Mont Caluaire, descendant au Fort St. Louis, for which work they were to receive from Monsieur Bourdon, engineer and surveyor, 2,000 livres and a puncheon of wine.

This musty, dry-as-dust, old document gives rise to several enquiries. One not the least curious, is the luxurious mode of life, which the puncheon of wine supposes among stonemasons at such a remote period of Quebec history as 1646. Finally, it was decided that this stone and cross were intended to commemorate the year in which the Fort St. Louis Bastion, begun in 1646, was finished, viz., 1647.

This historic stone, which has nothing in common with the

"Stone of Blarney
On the banks of Killarney,"

cropped up again more than a century later, in the days when Sergeant Jas. Thompson, one of Wolfe's veterans, was overseer of public works at Quebec—(he died in 1830, aged 98.) We read in his unpublished diary. "The cross in the wall, September 17th, 1784. The miners at the Château, in levelling the yard, dug up a large stone, from which I have described the annexed figure (identical with the present), I could wish it was discovered soon enough to lay conspicuously in the wall of the new building, (Haldimand Castle), in order to convey to posterity the antiquity of the Château St. Louis. However, I got the masons to lay the stone in the cheek of the gate of new building." Extract from James Thompson's Diary, 1759-1830.

Col. J. Hale, grandfather to our esteemed fellow townsman, E. J. Hale, Esq., and one of Wolfe's companions-at-arms, used to tell how he had succeeded in having this stone saved from the débris of the Château walls, and restored a short time before the Duke of Clarence, the sailor prince (William IV), visited Quebec in 1787.

Occasionally, the Castle opened its portals to rather unexpected but, nor the less welcome, visitors. On the 13th March, 1789, His Excellency Lord Dorchester had the satisfaction of entertaining a stalwart woodsman and expert hunter, Major Fitzgerald of the 54th Regiment, then stationed at St. John, New Brunswick, the son of a dear old friend, Lady Emilia Mary, daughter of the Duke of Richmond. This chivalrous Irishman was no less than the dauntless Lord Edward Fitzgerald, fifth son of the Duke of Leinster, the true but misguided patriot, who closed his promising career in such a melancholy manner in prison, during the Irish rebellion in 1798. Lord Edward had walked up on snowshoes through the trackless forest, from New Brunswick to Quebec, a distance of 175 miles, in twenty-six days, accompanied by a brother officer, Mr. Brisbane, a servant and two "woodsmen." This feat of endurance is pleasantly described by himself.

Tom Moore, in his biography of this generous, warmhearted son of Erin, among other dutiful epistles addressed by Lord Edward to his mother, has preserved the following, of which we shall give a few extracts:—

QUEBEC, March 14, 1789.

DEAREST MOTHER,—I got here yesterday after a very long and, what some people would think, a very tedious and fatiguing journey; but to me it was, at most, only a little fatiguing, and to make up for that, it was delightful and quite new. We were thirty days on our march, twenty-six of which we were in the woods, and never saw a soul but our own party.

You must know we came through a part of the country that had always been reckoned impassable. In short, instead of going a long way about, we determined to try and get straight through the woods, and see what kind of country it was. I believe I mentioned my party in a letter to Ogilvie (his step-father) before I left St. Anne's or Fredericton: it was an officer of the regiment, Tonny, and two woodsmen. The officer and I used to draw part of our baggage day about, and the other day steer (by compass), which we did so well, that we made the point we intended within ten miles. We were only wrong in computing our distances and making them a little too great, which obliged us to follow a new course, and make a river, which led us round to Quebec, instead of going straight to it. * * * I expect my leave by the first despatches. * * * I shall not be able to leave this part of the world till May, as I cannot get my leave before that. How I do long to see you. Your old love, Lord Dorchester, is very civil to me. I must, though, tell you a little more of the journey. After making the river, we fell in with some savages, and travelled with them to Quebec; they were very kind to us, and said we were "all one brother," "all one indian." They fed us the whole time we were with them. You would have laughed to have seen me carrying an old squaw's pack, which was so heavy I could hardly waddle under it. However, I was well paid whenever we stopped, for she always gave me the best bits and most soup, and took as much care of me as if I had been her own son; in short, I was quite l'enfant chéri. We were quite sorry to part: the old lady and gentleman both kissed me very heartily. I gave the old lady one of Sophia's silver spoons, which pleased her very much. When we got here, you may guess what figures we were. We had not shaved nor washed during the journey; our blanket-coats and trousers all worn out and pieced, in short, we went to two or three houses and they would not let us in. There was one old lady, exactly the hôtesse in Gil Blas, elle me prit la mesure du pied jusqu'à la tête, and told me there was one room, without a stove or bed, next a billiard room, which I might have if I pleased, and when I her told we were gentlemen, she very quietly said, "I dare say you are," and off she went. However, at last we got lodgings in an ale house, and you may guess ate well and slept well, and went next day well dressed, with one of Lord Dorchester's aide-de-camps to triumph over the old lady; in short, exactly the story in Gil Blas.

We are quite curiosities here after our journey, some think we were mad to undertake it, some think we were lost; some will have it we were starved; there were a thousand lies, but we are safe and well, enjoying rest and good eating, most completely. One ought really to take these fillips now and then, they make one enjoy life a great deal more.

The hours here are a little inconvenient to us as yet; whenever we wake at night we want to eat, the same as in the woods, and as soon as we eat we want to sleep. In our journey we were always up two hours before day, to load and get ready to march, we used to stop between three and four, and it generally took us from that till night to shovel out the snow, cut wood, cook and get ready for night, so that immediately after our suppers we were asleep, and whenever any one awakes in the night, he puts some wood on the fire, and eats a bit before he lies down again; but for my part, I was not much troubled with waking in the night.

"I really do think there is no luxury equal to that of lying before a good fire on a good spruce bed, after a good supper, and a hard moose chase in a fine clear frosty moonlit starry night. But to enter into the spirit of this, you must understand what a moose chase is: the man himself runs the moose down by pursuing the track. Your success in killing depends on the number of people you have to pursue and relieve one another in going first (which is the fatiguing part of snow- shoeing), and on the depth and hardness of the snow, for when the snow is hard and has a crust, the moose cannot get on, as it cuts his legs, and then he stops to make battle. But when the snow is soft, though it be above his belly, he will go on three, four or five days, for then the man cannot get on so fast, as the snow is heavy and he only gets his game by perseverance—an Indian never gives him up." Then follows a most graphic description of a hunt—closing with the death of the noble quarry.

"Pray," continues Lord Edward, "write to uncle Richmond, I would write if there was time, but I have only time to fill up this."

Tom Moore adds, that the plan of Lord Edward's route through the woods was forwarded from Quebec to the Duke of Richmond, by Mr. Hamilton Moore, in a letter dated Quebec, May 22nd, 1789, this letter closes with the following:—"Lord Edward has met with the esteem and admiration of all here."

In a subsequent epistle to Mr. Ogilvie, his step-father, dated "Quebec, 12th April, 1789," Lord Edward mentions the death of the Lieut.-Governor of Quebec (Major Patrick Bellew). "It is a place of £1,600 a year, and I think would do well for Charles. The day before he died I was in treaty for his Lieut.-Colonelcy in the 44th Regiment."

Later, on 4th May, 1789, he writes from Montreal, and speaks gratefully of the open-handed hospitality extended to him, and of the kind lady friends he met at Quebec. (Page 67.)

Alas! generous youth, what foul fiend, three year later, inspired you, with Tom Paine as your adviser, to herd at Paris with the regicide crew, and howl the "Carmagnole" and "Çà Ira," with the hideous monsters who revelled in blood under the holy name of liberty?

Again, one follows the patriotic Irish nobleman, in 1793, plighting his faith to a lovely and noble bride, Pamela Sims, the youthful daughter of the Duke of Orleans, by Madame de Genlis.

A few short years and the ghastly phantom of death, in a dismal prison, in the dearly loved land of his birth, spreads a pall over what might have been to his unfortunate country, a career full of honour. Alas! brave, noble Edward! Poor, pretty little Pamela, alas!

The Castle had its sunshine and its shadows. Many still survive to tell of an impressive, and gloomy pageant. On the 4th September, 1819, previous to their transfer to the chancel of the Anglican Cathedral, were exposed in state in the Château, the mortal remains of the late Governor-General, His Grace Charles Gordon Lennox, Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, who, on the 28th August, 1819, had died of hydrophobia.

The revolving wheel of time ushers in, with his successor, other actors, and other scenes. One likes to recall the presence there of a graceful and noble Chatelaine, his daughter, Lady Sarah Lennox, the devoted wife of the administrator of the Government of Lower Canada, Sir Peregrine Maitland, "a tall, grave officer, says Dr. Scadding, always in military undress, his countenance ever wearing a mingled expression of sadness and benevolence, like that which one may observe on the face of the predecessor of Louis Philippe, Charles the Tenth," whose current portraits recall, not badly, the whole head and figure of this early Governor of Upper Canada.

"In an outline representation which we (Dr. Scadding) accidentally
possessed, of a panorama of the battle of Waterloo, on exhibition in
London, the 1st Foot Guards were conspicuously to be seen, led on by
'Major General Sir Peregrine Maitland.'" [38]

With persons of wider knowledge, Sir Peregrine was invested With further associations. Besides being the royal representative in these parts, he was the son-in-law of Charles Gordon Lennox, fourth Duke of Richmond, a name that stirred chivalrous feelings in early Canadians of both Provinces; for the Duke had come to Canada as Governor-in- Chief, with a grand reputation acquired as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and great benefits were expected, and probably would have been realized, from his administration, had it been of long continuance. But he had been suddenly removed by an excruciating death. Whilst on a tour of inspection in the Upper Province, he had been fatally attacked by hydrophobia, occasioned by the bite of a pet fox. The injury had been received at Sorel; its terrible effects were fatally experienced at a place near the Ottawa river called Richmond.

Some of the prestige of the deceased Duke continued to adhere to Sir Peregrine Maitland, for he had married the Duke's daughter, a graceful and elegant woman, who was always at his side here (York, now Toronto), and at Stanford Cottage across the lake. She bore a name not unfamiliar in the domestic annals of George III., who once, it is said, was enamored of a beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox, grandmother, as we suppose, or some other near relative of the Lady Sarah Lennox here before us. However, conversationists whispered about (in confidence) something supposed to be unknown to the general public, that the match between Sir Peregrine and Lady Sarah had been effected in spite of the Duke. The report was that there had been an elopement, and it was naturally supposed that the party of the sterner sex bad been the most active agent in the affair. To say the truth, however, in this instance it was the lady who precipitated matters. The affair occurred at Paris, soon after the Waterloo campaign. The Duke's final determination against Sir Peregrine's proposals having been announced, the daughter suddenly withdrew from the father's roof, and fled to the lodgings of Sir Peregrine, who instantly retired to other quarters. The upshot of the whole thing, at once romantic and unromantic, included a marriage and a reconciliation, and eventually a Lieutenant- Governorship for the son-in-law, under the Governorship-in-Chief of the father, both despatched together to undertake the discharge of vice-regal functions in a distant colony. At the time of his marriage with Lady Sarah Lennox, Sir Peregrine had been for some ten years a widower. [39] After the death of the Duke of Richmond, Sir Peregrine became administrator, for a time of the general government of British North America.

One of the Duke of Richmond's sons was lost in the ill-fated steamer President in 1840. In December, 1824, Sir Peregrine revisited Quebec with Sir Francis Burton, Lieutenant-Governor, in the Swiftsure, steamer escorting some very distinguished tourists. A periodical notices the arrivals at the old Château as follows:—

"Sir Peregrine is accompanied by Lord Arthur Lennox, Mr. Maitland, Colonels Foster, Lightfoot, Coffin and Talbot, with the Hon. E. G. Stanley (from 1851 to 1869 Earl of Derby), grandson of Earl Derby, M. P. for Stockbridge; John E. Denison, Esq., (subsequently Speaker of the House of Commons), M. P. for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and James S. Wortley, Esq. (afterwards Lord Wharncliffe), M. P. for Bossiney in Cornwall. The three latter gentlemen are upon a tour in this country from England, and we are happy to learn, that they have expressed themselves as being highly gratified with all they have hitherto seen in Canada."—(Canadian Review, 1824.)

Quebecers will be pleased to learn that the name of Sir Peregrine Maitland is pleasantly preserved by means of Maitland Scholarships in a grammar school for natives at Madras, and by a Maitland Prize in the University of Cambridge. Sir Peregrine, as patron of education, opened an era of progress which his successors Lords Elgin, Dufferin and Lorne have continued in a most munificent manner.

A curious glimpse of high life at Quebec, in the good old days of Lord
Dalhousie, is furnished in a letter addressed to Delta, of Blackwood's
Magazine, by John Galt, the novelist, the respected father of our gifted
statesman, Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt. [40]

The talented author of the "Annals of the Parish," after expatiating on the dangers he had that day incurred in crossing over from Levis to Quebec in a canoe, among the ice-floes, thus alludes to the winter amusements:—

QUEBEC, 22nd February, 1827.

MY DEAR SIR,—I am under very great obligations to you. A copy of the "Laird" having come to the castle from the New York publishers, Lady Dalhousie lent it to me. * * * I am much pleased with Quebec. It is at present filled with Highland regiments, in which I have many acquaintances and the hospitality of the other inhabitants is also unbounded, for the winter suspends all business, and pleasure is conducted as if it were business. The amateurs have a theatre, and I wrote a piece for them, in which a Londoner, a Glasgow merchant, an Irish girl, a Yankee family and a Highlander were introduced. It was adapted entirely to the place, and in quiz of a very agreeable custom —of everybody calling on strangers. Dr. Dunlop performed the Highlander beyond anything I ever saw on the regular stage. The whole went off with more laughter than anything I have ever seen, for the jokes being local and personal (supplied by upwards of thirty contributors), every one told with the utmost effect."

"This farce, says Delta, composed at Quebec by J. Galt, and performed there before the Earl of Dalhousie (then Governor-General), was named "The Visitors, or a Trip to Quebec," and was meant as a good humoured satire on some of the particular usages of the place. An American family figured as the visitors, and the piece opened with a scene in an hôtel, when a waiter brings in a tea-tray loaded with cards of callers, and the explanation of the initials having had reference to people, many of whom were present at the performance, tended much to make the thing pass off with great éclat. It seems that a custom prevails there to a punctilious extent, of all the inhabitants of a certain grade calling upon strangers and leaving their cards.

"This flash of harmless lightning, however, assumed somewhat of a malignant glare when seen from the United States. The drift of the performance was, it seems, hideously misrepresented by some of the newspapers, and it was said that Mr. Galt had ungratefully ridiculed the Americans, notwithstanding the distinction and hospitality with which they had received him. It thus came to pass that he promised, when next in New York, to write another farce, in which liberty as great should be taken with his own countrymen. "An Aunt in Virginia" was the product of this promise, and with the alterations mentioned and a change of scene from New York to London, it was published under the name of "Scotch and Yankees.""

A volume would not suffice to detail the brilliant receptions, gay routs, levees, state balls given at the Castle during Lord Dorchester's administration—the lively discussions—the formal protests originating out of points of precedence, burning questions de jupons between the touchy magnates of the old and those of the new regime. Whether la Baronne de St. Laurent would be admitted there or not? Whether a de Longueuil's or a de Lanaudière's place was on the right of Lady Maria, the charming consort of His Excellency Lord Dorchester—a daughter of the great English Earl of Effingham? Whether dancing ought to cease when their Lordships the Bishops entered, and made their bow to the representative of royalty? Unfortunately Quebec had then no Court Journal, so that following generations will have but faint ideas of all the witchery, the stunning head-dresses, the décolletées, high-waisted robes of their stately grandmothers, whirled round in the giddy waltz by whiskered, épauletted cavaliers, or else courtesying in the demure menuet de la cour.

In August, 1796, when Isaac Weld, Jr., visited Quebec, he describes the old part of the château as chiefly taken up with the public offices, all the apartments in it, says he, "are small and ill-contrived; but in the new part (Haldimand Castle) which stands in front of the other, facing the square (the ring), they are spacious and tolerably well furnished, but none of them can be called elegant. This part is inhabited by the Governor's family. * * * * Every evening during summer, when the weather is fine, one of the regiments of the garrison parades in the open place before the château, and the band plays for an hour or two, at which time the place becomes the resort of numbers of the most genteel people of the town, and has a very gay appearance." (Weld's Travels through the States of North America in 1795-6-7, vol. 1, p. 351)

In 1807, when the deadly duel between England and Imperial France was at its height, Great Britain sent New France as her Viceroy, a military Governor, equally remarkable for the sternness of his rule and for his love of display, hence the name of "Little King Craig," awarded to Sir James Craig. To meet his requirements the House of Assembly voted in 1808, a sum of £7,000 to repair the Château St. Louis. Sir James took up his quarters in the interim, in Castle Haldimand. The Château St. Louis received an additional story and was much enlarged. In 1812 an additional sum of £7,980 19s 4d was voted to cover the deficit in the repairs. Little King Craig inhabited Château St. Louis during the winters of 1809-10-11, occupying Spencer Wood during the summer months. The Château stables were subsequently converted into a riding school, afterwards into a theatre, where the exhibition of Harrison's Diorama caused the awful tragedy of 12th June, 1846. [41] The Earl of Durham, in 1838, struck with the commanding position of this site, had the charred ruins of the old Château removed and erected a lofty platform which soon was called after him "Durham Terrace."

In 1851-2-3-4, Haldimand Castle was repaired at a cost of $13,718.42. In 1854, Hon. Jean Chabot, member for Quebec and Commissioner of Public Works, had Durham Terrace much enlarged; the adjoining walls were repaired at an expense of $4,209.92. More expenditure was incurred in 1857. When the Laval Normal School was installed there, Bishop Langevin, then Principal, had the wing erected where the chapel stands. The vaulted room used as a kitchen for the Laval Normal School, was an old powder magazine; it is the most ancient portion of the building. The present Castle was, by Order in Council of 14th February, 1871, transferred by the Dominion authorities to the Government of the Province of Quebec, together with Durham Terrace, the Sewell Mansion, facing the Esplanade (Lieutenant- Governor's office), also, the site and buildings of the Parliament House, on Mountain Hill.

The extension of this lofty and beautiful Terrace, suggested to the City Council by the City Engineer in his report of 1872, necessarily formed a leading feature in the splendid scheme of city improvements, originated by the Earl of Dufferin, with the assistance of Mr. Lynn, an eminent Irish engineer, and of our City Engineer, le Chevalier Baillairge. An appeal was made by a true and powerful friend to Quebec (Lord Dufferin) to our gracious Sovereign, who contributed munificently from her private purse, for the erection of the new gate, called after her late father, the Duke of Kent—Kent Gate, in remembrance of his long sojourn (1791-4) in this city. Large sums were also granted by the Dominion, it is thought, chiefly through the powerful influence of Lord Dufferin, seconded by Sir H. L. Langevin; an appeal was also made for help to the City Council and not in vain; it responded by a vote of $7,500.

The front wall was built at the expense of the Dominion Government, and occupies part of the site of the old battery, erected on that portion of the château garden granted to Major Samuel Holland in 1766.

The length of Dufferin Terrace is 1420 feet, and it is 182 feet above the level of the St. Lawrence. It forms part of the city fortifications. The site can be resumed by the Commander of the Forces (the Governor-General) whenever he may deem it expedient for objects within the scope of his military authority.

Durham Terrace, increased to four times its size, now forms a link in the Dufferin plans of city embellishment, of which the corner stone was laid by the Earl of Dufferin on the 18th October, 1878, and was authentically recognized as "Dufferin Terrace" in April and May, 1879, in the official records of the City Council; several iron plates were inserted in the flooring with the inscription, "Dufferin Terrace, H. Hatch, contractor, C. Baillairge, engineer." But a famous name of the past, which many loved to connect with this spot—that of Louis de Buade, Count de Frontenac, was not forgotten. The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, on the 18th April, 1879, presented to the City Council a petition, asking among other things, that one of the handsome kiosks on the Terrace should bear the name of Frontenac; their prayer was granted, and by a resolution moved on 9th May, 1879, by Mr. P. Johnson, C.C., and seconded by Alderman Rhéaume, the five kiosks of Dufferin Terrace were named Victoria, Louise, Lorne, Frontenac, Plessis.

It is the site of the present Normal School, adjacent to this historic spot, which has been selected for the palatial hotel in contemplation.

LAYING OF CORNER STONE OF DUFFERIN TERRACE

"The laying of the corner stone of Dufferin Terrace took place the same day (18th Oct., 1878) as that of the two city gates, the St. Louis and the Kent Gate. The ceremony was performed in the presence of thousands. His Worship the Mayor (R. Chambers) received His Excellency the Earl of Dufferin, and with him were present many of the Aldermen and Councillors, with the City Engineer and contractors, the members of the Judiciary, Consul-General of Spain, Consuls of France, Belgium and the United States, Dean Stanley, of London, England; Mrs. Stevenson, sister to the Countess of Dufferin, Messrs. Russell Stevenson, R. R. Dobell, Simon Peters, Dr. Marsden, Jas. Motz, many ex-Aldermen and ex-Councillors, Alexander Woods, Chairman of the Harbour Commission, W. S. Desbarats, W. G. Sheppard, Wm. White, Very Revd. H. Hamel, His Lordship Judge Taschereau, late of the Supreme Court, Hon. Judge H. Taschereau, Judge of the Superior Court, &c.

"A handsome trowel and mallet were handed to His Excellency the manufacture of Mr. Cyrille Duquet. On the face of the trowel a splendid likeness of the Governor-General was embossed, and an appropriate inscription was engraved thereon. On the plate of the foundation stone the inscription reads as follows:—"Dufferin Terrace, laid by His Excellency the Earl of Dufferin, Governor-General of the Dominion of Canada, on the 18th day of October, 1878, in presence of the Dominion and city authorities and dignitaries, and an immense concourse of people from all parts of Canada, also His Honor Luc Letellier de St. Just, Lieut.-Governor of the Province of Quebec, R. Chambers, Esq., Mayor of the city of Quebec. City Aldermen—Hon. John Hearn, Patrick Henchey, Louis Bourget, R. F. Rinfret, Francois Gingras, J. P. Rhéaume, Germain Guay, F. O. Vallerand, Esqs. City Councillors—Onésime Beaubien, Andrew Hatch, Guillaume Bouchard, F. X. Langevin, Jean Docile Brosseau, Francis McLaughlin, John C. Burns, William McWilliam, William Convey, J. F. Peachy, John Delaney, F. W. Roy, Peter Johnston, Willis Russell, Charles Brochu, Richard Turner, Esqs. City Clerk—L. A. Cannon, Esq. City Treasurer—C. J. L. Lafrance, Esq. City Accountant—M. F. Walsh, Esq. City Legal Adviser— L. G. Baillairge, Esq. City Notary—A. G. Tourangeau, Esq. Owen Murphy, Esq., ex-Mayor; Chas. Baillairge, Chevalier, City Engineer." In the leaden box, placed within the stone, were laid mementoes of the occasion, similar to those placed in the proper receptacle in the stone laid in the morning at St. Louis Gate, with the addition of beautifully executed portraits of Lord and Lady Dufferin, from the studio of Messrs. Ellison & Co.

"His Excellency having given the coup de grâce to the foundation stone with the silver mallet, the proceedings were closed."— (Morning Chronicle, 19th Oct., 1878.)

The new city gate erected on the site of the old St. Louis Gate, instead of being called Dufferin Grate, as it had been contemplated, was allowed to retain its time-honored name, St. Louis Gate; the public of Quebec, however, were resolved that some conspicuous monument should recall to Quebecers the fragrant memory of its benefactor, Lord Dufferin; on the visit in June, 1879, of His Excellency Lord Lorne and H.R.H. the Princess Louise, a request was made on them by the citizens, through their chief executive officer, the Mayor of Quebec (R. Chambers), to name and open to the public our world-famous Terrace. On the 9th June, 1879, our distinguished visitors performed this auspicious ceremony in presence of thousands, and in the following words confirmed the name previously entered in the Corporation records:—

INAUGURATION OF DUFFERIN TERRACE, 9th JUNE, 1879.

"According to notice previously given, the inauguration of Dufferin Terrace occurred at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon. When that hour arrived a mass of people variously estimated at from eight to fifteen thousand, but probably containing about ten thousand, occupied the Terrace. The appearance from an elevated place of this sea of humanity was indeed wonderful. The band pavilion in the centre of the garden had been reserved for the Viceregal party, and was covered in carpet and scarlet cloth, with two chairs of state. The entrance to the pavilion was kept by the City Police, while "B" Battery furnished the band and guard of honour, and played the National Anthem as the distinguished party arrived on the field.

The Mayor and members of the City Council had previously walked in a body to the pavilion from the City Hall, and now His Worship conducted His Excellency and Her Royal Highness to the dais, and addressing himself to the Governor-General, said:—

"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY.—On behalf of the Corporation and citizens of Quebec, permit me to thank Your Excellency for acceding to our request that you would be pleased to open in person this public promenade, and also Her Royal Highness for graciously honouring us by her presence.

"The corner stone of this structure was laid by Your Excellency's
predecessor, the Earl of Dufferin (18th Oct., 1878).

"It will be gratifying to the noble Lord to learn that the work in
which he took so lively an interest has been inaugurated by Your
Excellency, and that the ceremony was graced by the presence of Her
Royal Highness the Princess Louise.

"I have, therefore, respectfully to request that Your Excellency may
be pleased to give the name which the Terrace is henceforth to bear,
and to signify if it is the pleasure of Your Excellency that it be
opened to the public."

His Excellency replied:—"I am happy to accede to your request to
signify that this Terrace shall be called after your late Governor-
General, Dufferin, and that it is now open to the public."

Rounds of applause followed His Excellency's remarks, and loud cheers
were given for the Earl of Dufferin, Her Royal Highness and His
Excellency." (Morning Chronicle, 10th June, 1879.)

Parallel with Ste. Anne street, and terminated by Dauphin street, a tortuous, rugged little lane, now known as St. Andrew's street, leads past St Andrew's schoolhouse, to the chief entrance of the Presbyterian house of worship; a church opened at the beginning of the century, repaired and rendered quite handsome a few years ago, but much damaged by fire on the 30th April, 1881. In connection with the erection of this structure, a document was recently exhumed from the archives of the Literary and Historical Society, which throws much light on an important section of the former population of the city. It is a memorial to His Majesty George III., signed at Quebec on the 5th October, 1802, by the Rev. Dr Sparks' congregation and by himself. The first incumbent of St. Andrew's Church— commenced in 1809, and opened for worship on the 30th November, 1810—was the Reverend Doctor Alexander Sparks, who had landed at Quebec in 1780, became tutor in the family of Colonel Henry Caldwell at Belmont, St. Foye road, and who died suddenly in Quebec, on the 7th March, 1819. Dr. Sparks had succeeded to the Rev. George Henry, a military chaplain at the time of the conquest; the first Presbyterian minister, we are told, who officiated in the Province, and who died on the 6th July, 1795, aged 86 years.

One hundred and forty-eight signatures are affixed to this dusty document of 1802.

A carefully prepared petition—it seems—to the King, asking for a site in Quebec whereon to build a church—and suggesting that the lot occupied by the Jesuits' Church, and where until 1878, stood the Upper Town, market shambles, be granted to the petitioners, they being without a church, and having to trust to the good will of the government for the use, on Sundays, of a room in the Jesuits Barracks, as a place of worship. [42]

Signatures to Memorial addressed to George III., asking for land in
Quebec to build a Presbyterian Church:—

Alex. Sparks, Minister, A. Ferguson,
Jas. Thompson, Jr., Robert Eglison,
Fred. Grant, Robt. Cairns,
Jno. Greenshields, William A. Thompson,
Chas. G. Stewart, Wm. McWhirter,
James Sinclair, John McDonald,
John Urquhart, John Auld,
William Morrin, Bridget Young,
Jno. Eifland, Jno. Shaw,
John Barlie, Charles Hunter,
Geo. McGregor, Geo. Black,
Wm. Holmes, W. G. Hall,
James Ward, J. Gray,
Jno. Purss, F. Leslie,
Ann Watt, Robt. Wood,
J. Brydon, Lewis Harper,
Jno. Frazer, Mary Boyle,
James Somerville, A. Anderson,
J. A. Thompson, John Anderson,
Wm. Hall, Robt. Ross,
Wm. Thompson, Sr., Wm. Fraser,
D. Monroe, Wm. Hay,
J. Blackwood, Wm. McKay,
M. Lymburner, Robt. Harrower,
Francis Hunter, James Tulloch,
W. Rouburgh, Samuel Brown,
John McCord, Isaac Johnstone,
J. G. Hanna, Peter Leitch,
J. McNider, Henry Baldwin,
Adam Lymburner, Daniel Forbes,
Jno. Lynd, William Jaffray,
Peter Stuart, J. Hendry,
William Grant, John Thompson,
J. A. Todd, George Smith,
John Mure, Wm. Reed,
John Patterson, Alexander Harper,
John Crawford, Robert Marshall,
John Hewison, William White,
David Douglas, Thomas White,
George Wilde, John Taylor,
Fred. Petry, Adam Reid,
James Ross, James Irvine,
David Stewart, John Munro,
John Yule, Alexander Munn,
Angus McIntyre, Alexander Rea,
John Mackie, James Elmslie,
John Purss. Johnston, Charles Smith,
Wm. Thompson, Jr., Ebenezer Baird,
Con. Adamson, Lawrence Kidd,
Geo. Morrison, James McCallum,
Jno. Goudie, John Burn,
G. Sinclair, Joanna George,
Walter Carruthers, Maya Darling,
Wm. Petrie, William Lindsay,
John Ross, Janet Smith,
Wm. McKenzie, William Smith,
Thos. Saul, Henrietta Sewell,
J. Ross, Jr., Jane Sewell,
Ann Rose, C. W. Grant,
James Mitchell, Robert Ritchie,
Geo. King, George Pyke,
Alex. Thompson, Joseph Stilson,
James Orkney, Henry Hunt,
J. Neilson, George Thompson,
Daniel Fraser,
Quebec, 5th October, 1802.

Some of these signatures are suggestive. The most notable is probably that of old Adam Lymburner, the cleverest of the three Lymburners, all merchants at Quebec in 1775. [43] Adam, according to the historian Garneau, was more distinguished for his forensic abilities and knowledge of constitutional law, than for his robust allegiance to the Hanoverian succession at Quebec, when Colonel Benedict Arnold and his New Englanders so rudely knocked at our gates for admission in 1775.

According to Garneau and other historians, in the autumn of that memorable year, when the fate of British Canada hung as if by a thread, Adam Lymburner, more prudent than loyal, retired from the sorely beset fortress to Charlesbourg, possibly to Château Bigot, a shooting box then known as the "Hermitage," to meditate on the mutability of human affairs. Later on, however, in the exciting times of 1791, Adam Lymburner was deputed by the colony to England to suggest amendment's to the project of the constitution to be promulgated by the home authorities. His able speech may be met with in the pages of the Canadian Review, published at Montreal in 1826. This St Peter street magnate attained four score and ten years, and died at Russell Square, London, on the 10th January, 1836.

Another signature recalls days of strife and alarm: that of sturdy old Hugh McQuarters, the brave artillery sergeant who, at Près-de-Ville on that momentous 31st December, 1775, applied the match to the cannon which consigned to a snowy shroud Brigadier-General Richard Montgomery, his two aides, McPherson and Cheeseman, and his brave, but doomed followers, some eleven in all; the rest having sought safety in flight. By this record, it appears Sergeant McQuarters had also a son, in 1802, one of Dr Sparks' congregation. Old Hugh McQuarters lived in Champlain street, and closed his career there in 1812.

Another autograph, that of James Thompson, one of Wolfe's comrades—"a big giant," as our old friend, the late Judge Henry Black, who knew him well, used to style him, awakens many memories of the past. Sergeant James Thompson, of Fraser's Highlanders, at Louisbourg in 1758, and at Quebec in 1759, came from Tain, Scotland, to Canada, as a volunteer to accompany a friend-Capt. David Baillie, of the 78th. His athletic frame, courage, integrity and intelligence, during the seventy-two years of his Canadian career, brought him employment, honour, trust and attention from every Governor of the colony from 1759 to 1830, the period of his death, he was then aged 98 years. At the battle of the Plains of Abraham, James Thompson, as hospital sergeant, was intrusted with the landing, at Point Levi, of the wounded, who were crossed over in boats; he tells us of his carrying some of the wounded from the crossing at Levi, up the hill, all the way to the church at St. Joseph, converted into an hospital, and distant three miles from the present ferry, a "big giant" alone could have been equal to such a task. In 1775, Sergeant Thompson, as overseer of Government works, was charged with erecting the palisades, fascines and other primitive contrivances to keep out Brother Jonathan, who had not yet learned the use of Parrot or Gatling guns and torpedoes. Later on, we find the sturdy Highlander an object of curiosity to strangers visiting Quebec —full of siege anecdotes and reminiscences—a welcome guest at the Château in the days of the Earl of Dalhousie. In 1827, as senior Mason, he was called on by His Excellency to give the three mystic taps with the mallet, when the corner stone of the Wolfe and Montcalm monument was laid, in the presence of Captain Young of the 79th Highlanders, and a great concourse of citizens. About New Year's day, 1776, Mr. Thompson became possessed of Gen. Montgomery's sword; it has since passed to his grandson, James Thompson Harrower. Mr. James Thompson left several sons, some of whose signatures are affixed to the document before us. John Gawler was Judge for the District of Gaspé from 1828 to 1865; George received a commission in the Royal Artillery; a third was Deputy Commissary General James Thompson, who died in this city in 1869.

Old James Thompson expired in 1830, at the family mansion, St. Ursule street, now occupied by his grandson, Mr. James Thompson Harrower.

When we name John Greenshields, D. Munro (the partner of the Hon. Matthew
Bell), J. Blackwood, Matthew Lymburner, Peter Stuart, William Grant, John
Mure, John McNider, J. G. Hanna, John Crawford, David Stewart (the David
Stewart of "Astoria" described by Washington Irving?) James Orkney, Robert
Wood, Alexander Munn, James McCallum, Thomas White, Fred. Petrie, Robert
Ritchie, we recall many leading merchants in St. Peter street, Notre Dame
street and the old Cul-de-Sac.

"Ebenezer Baird," we take to have been the progenitor of a well-remembered
Quebec Barrister, James E. Baird, Esq., the patron of our city member,
Jacques Malouin, Esquire.

George Pyke, a Halifax barrister, had settled here. He rose to occupy a seat on the judicial bench.

Robert Harrower, was doubtless the father of Messrs. Robert, David and Charles Harrower, of Trois Saumons, County of L'Islet. Honorable James Irvine, in 1818, a member of the Legislative Council, was the grandfather of the Hon. G. Irvine, of this city. The Hon. John Jones Ross, the present Speaker of the Legislative Council, Quebec, traces back to the "James Ross" of 1802, and the Hon. David Alex. Ross claims for his sire that sturdy Volunteer of 1759, under Wolfe, "John Ross," who made a little fortune; he resided at the house he purchased in 1765, near Palace Gate within. He held a commission as a Captain in the British Militia in 1775, under Colonel Le Maitre; we can recollect his scarlet uniform which he wore in 1775, also worn in 1875, by his grandson, our worthy friend, Hon. D. A. Ross, at the ball of the Centenary of the repulse of Brigadier- General Richard Montgomery, 31st December, 1775. He had three sons, David was Solicitor-General at Quebec; John was a lawyer also, and Prothonotary at Quebec (the signer of the memorial of 1802); the third died young; of three daughters, one was married to the Rev. Doctor Sparks, already mentioned; a second was married to Mr. James Mitchell, A.C.G., and the third to an army surgeon. John Ross, Sr., died at an advanced age. Charles Grey Stewart, our Comptroller of Customs died in 1854; he was the father of Messrs. McLean, Charles, Alexander, Robert and John Stewart, of Mrs. William Price, of Mrs. William Phillips, of the Misses Ann and Eleanor Stewart.

"Joanna George" the mother of an aged contemporary, Miss Elizabeth George,
and of [44] Miss Agnes George, the widow of the late Arch. Campbell, Esq.,
N.P., and grandmother of the present President of the St. Andrew's
Society, W. Darling Campbell, died about 1830.

"Maya Darling" was another daughter, and wife of Capt. Darling. "John Burn," also one of the signers of the Memorial, and who afterwards settled in Upper Canada, was the son of "Joanna George" by another marriage; the eccentric and clever Quebec merchant, Mr. James George, was another son. He was the first who suggested in 1822, a plan of the St. Charles River Docks—the first who took up the subject of rendering the St. Lawrence Rapids navigable higher than Montreal. The idea seemed so impracticable, and what was still worse, so new, that the far-seeing Mr. George, was at the time branded as non compos! and still for years the "Spartan," "Passport," "Champion" and other steamers have safely ran these rapids daily every season!

James George had also suggested the practicability of Wooden Railways or
Tramways, with horses as locomotive power, forty years before the Civil
Engineer Hulburt built the Gosford Wooden Railway, with steam as
locomotive power.

"William Grant, of St. Roch's, after whom Grant street was called, was member for the Upper Town of Quebec, during our two first Parliaments, from 17th December, 1792, to 29th May, 1800, and from 9th January, 1805, to period of his death at St. Roch in 1805. An enterprising and important personage was the Hon. Wm. Grant, the Receiver General of the Province in 1770. He had married the widow of the third Baron de Longueuil.

"John Mure" represented the County of York (Vaudreuil) in three Parliaments, from 9th January, 1805, to 26th February, 1810, and was member for the Upper Town of Quebec, from 1810 to 1814. A man of intelligence, he also, though a Presbyterian, became a benefactor to the R. C. Church, having, in 1812, given to the R. C. parishioners of St. Roch's, a site whereon to erect their church in that thriving suburb.

"John Blackwood" also represented the Upper Town in two Parliaments, from 9th April, 1809, to 20th February, 1810.

"Jane Sewell" was the wife of Stephen Sewell, Solicitor-General of Lower
Canada, brother to Chief Justice Sewell.

"Henrietta Sewell," one of the signers, survived ten years her husband, the late Jonathan Sewell, Chief Justice for Lower Canada, who died in Quebec in 1839. Chief Justice Sewell left a numerous progeny. [45]

"William Lindsay" was the father of the late William Burns Lindsay, for years Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and of our venerable fellow-citizen, Errol Boyd Lindsay, Esq., Notary Public, now more than four score years of age; he seems to have taken his surname from Capt. Errol Boyd, in 1798, commander of the well remembered Quebec and Montreal trader, the "Dunlop."

"William Smith," one of the last among the signers of the memorial, the brother of Henrietta Smith, wife of Chief Justice Sewell, was the Hon. William Smith, Clerk of the Legislative Council, and who, in 1815, published his History of Canada, in two volumes, a standard work; he was a descendant of the Hon. William Smith, a noted U. E. Loyalist, who wrote the history of the State of New York, and landed at Quebec, 23rd October, 1786. As a reward for his loyalty he had been made Chief Justice of Lower Canada, 1st September, 1785; he died at Quebec, 6th December, 1793.

The names of six signers of the Memorial to the King, appear on the list of the jury empanelled to try, in 1797, before Chief Justice Osgood, David McLane for high treason, viz.: John Blackwood, John Crawford, David Munro, John Mure, James Irvine, James Orkney. George Pyke was the Counsel named ex officio, together with M. Franklin, to defend the misguided Yankee.

The Jury stood thus;—

John Blackwood, James Irvine,
John Crawford, James Orkney,
John Painter, James Watson Goddard,
David Monro, Henry Cull,
John Mure, Robert Morrogh,
John Jones, George Symes.

Parloir street, well leavened with lawyers, leads to the parloir of the Ursulines. Here resided the late Judge de Bonne, at the dawn of the present century. The locality is alive with memories of this venerable seat of education, and with saintly and heroic traditions of Madame de la Peltrie, Mère de l'Incarnation—Montcalm. "There exists," says the Abbé Casgrain, "in the Ursuline Nunnery, a small picture, which portrays a touching tradition of the early days of Canada: a painting executed by a Canadian artist, from old etchings, preserved in the monastery. * * The canvas represents the forest primeval, which mantled the promontory of Quebec, at the birth of the Colony. In the centre of the picture may be seen, amidst the maples and tall pines, the first monastery, founded in 1641 by Madame de la Peltrie. On its front stands forth in perspective the dwelling which the founder had erected for her own use, three years later on. The area comprised between these two edifices, is occupied by a clearing, surrounded by a palisade, whereon are seen grazing a flock of sheep. On the left side of the picture a broad avenue leads through the forest:—the Grand Allée—later on St. Louis street, which leads to the village of Sillery. Two horsemen, habited à la Louis XIV, meet on this avenue, the one Monsieur d'Ailleboust, the Governor of the Colony, the other is Monsieur DuPlessis Bochard, the Governor of Three Rivers. In the midst of their interview, they are interrupted by an Indian Chief, who offers them a beaver skin. A few steps from her residence, Madame de la Peltrie is standing close to another Indian Chief, who, with head inclined, seems in the attitude of listening to her in the most respectful manner, whilst she, dignified and composed, is expounding to him the sacred truths of faith. This scene presents an admirable contrast, with another taking place close by; an Indian warrior is seen giving, imperiously, his orders to a squaw,—his wife mayhap—but who, from her downcast and humble look, seems more like his slave. A short distance from this group, a missionary, (Father Jérôme Lalemant) after visiting some wigwams, erected around the house of Madame de la Peltrie, is threading a narrow path leading to the depths of the forest. The most attractive feature about the painting is a group of young children, listening attentively to the teachings of a nun, seated on the right, under the shade of an ash tree. The impression created by this antique painting, is the more delightful and vivid, because on turning one's gaze, at present, from the picture, to the interior of the cloister, may still be seen the hoary head of an old ash tree, under which tradition shows us the venerable Mother de l'Incarnation, catechising the Indian children and teaching the young girls of the colony." [46] After more than two centuries of existence, the old ash tree succumbed lately to a storm.

Laval, Attorney-General Ruette D'Auteuil, Louis de Buade, Ste. Hélène () seem to come back to life in the ancient streets of the same name, whilst Frontenac, Iberville, Piedmont, are brought to one's recollection, in the modern thoroughfares. The old Scotch pilot, Abraham Martin, (who according to the Jesuits' Journal, might have been a bit of a scamp, although a church chorister, but who does not appear to have been tried for his peccadiloes,) owned a domain of thirty-two acres of land in St. John's suburbs, which were bounded towards the north, by the hill which now bears his name (La Côte d'Abraham.)

Mythology has exacted a tribute on a strip of ground in the St. Louis suburbs. The chief of the pagan Olympus boasts of his lane, "Jupiter street," so called after a celebrated inn, Jupiter's Inn, on account of a full sized statue of the master of Olympus which stood formerly over the main entrance. In the beginning of the century, a mineral spring, of wondrous virtue, attracted to this neighbourhood, those of our bon vivants whose livers were out of order. Its efficacy is now a thing of the past!

That dear old street,—St. George street formerly,—now called after the first settler of the Upper Town in 1617, Louis Hébert, by the erection of the lofty Medical College and Laval University, for us has been shorn of its name—its sunshine—its glory, since the home [47] of our youth, at the east end, has passed into strange hands. It is now Hébert street, by order of the City council.

Opposite to the antique and still stately dwelling, lately owned by Jos. Shehyn, M.P.P., is a house formerly tenanted by Mr. J. Dyke. In the beginning of this century it was occupied by an old countryman, remarkable, if not for deep scientific attainments, at least for shrewd common sense and great success in life—Mr. P. Paterson, the proprietor of the extensive mills at Montmorency—now owned by the estate of the late George Benson Hall, his son-in-law.

Peter Paterson, about 1790, left Whitby, England, to seek his fortune in Canada. His skill as a ship builder—his integrity of character and business habits, pointed him out as a fit agent—later on as a partner in a wealthy Baltic firm of London merchants who still have representatives in the colony. At the time of Napoleon's continental blockade, the English Government, seeing that the Baltic was closed for the supply of timber for the navy, gave out a large contract to Messrs. Henry and John Usborne—of London—for masts and oak. Usborne & Co., employed Mr. P. Paterson to dress and ship this timber. A timber limit license, of portentous import, authorizing the cutting of oak and masts for the navy in all British North America, was issued. Under authority of this license, Mr. Paterson partly denuded the shores of Lake Champlain as well as the Thousand Islands, of their fine oak. Mr. Paterson was the first to float oak in rafts to Quebec. He built a large mill at Montmorency, having exchanged his St. George street house for the mill site at Montmorency. His mills have since attained to great importance.

In the rear of (St. George—now) Hébert street loom out the lofty walls of the Laval University, which received its Royal Charter in 1852. [48]

THE LAVAL UNIVERSITY.

The main edifice is 298 feet in length, five stories high; a plain, massive structure of cut-stone, much improved in appearance since the addition, in 1876, of the present superstructure, which relieves the unbroken monotony of its form. The work is a great ornament not only to the immense building itself, but to the city. The task of designing the superstructure was entrusted to the taste and talent of J. F. Peachy, architect. The superstructure is in the French mansard roof style, with handsome cupolas on the east and west ends, surmounted with flag-staffs and weather vanes. In the centre towers a dome far above all, surmounted by a gilt-iron cross in the modern Grecian style—the upright shaft and arms being formed at four right angles. The crown ornaments on the centre top and ends of the arms are all of wrought iron and weigh about 700 lbs. The base is strongly braced and bolted to an oak shaft, secured to the truss work of the dome so firmly as to resist the fiercest gale of wind or any other powerful strain. It is 11 feet six inches in height and the arms are 7 feet six inches across. Mr. Philip Whitty, iron worker and, machinist, of St. James street, was the builder of this cross, and its handsome design and solidity reflect credit upon his taste and workmanship. We believe that it is intended to have a picture gallery in the superstructure under the central dome. The entire roof is strongly trussed and braced with iron bolts. This portion of the work was done under the superintendence of Mr. Marcou. We understand that it is also the intention to erect two balconies on the eastern end, fronting the St. Lawrence—these balconies to be supported by Corinthian columns. From the base to the present superstructure, the building was originally 80 feet high; it now stands 202 feet high from the base to the top of the cross on the central dome.

In 1880, another important addition, involving a heavy outlay, was planned. A lofty wing, 265 feet in length has been added to this imposing pile of buildings; it covers a large area in the seminary garden and connects on each story with the main structure, from which it stands out at right angles. Both buildings are intended to form but one, and seen from Levi or from the River St. Lawrence, it looks like an extension of the Laval University itself. The edifice is fireproof, its internal division walls are of brick, its rafters of iron; the floors are brick lined with deals as a preventive against dampness. The iron rafters were wrought at Lodelinsart, near Charleroi, Belgium; they weigh 400 tons, and cost laid down 1-1/2 cent per lb.

The basement and the ceiling of the first flat are vaulted over. The refectory takes up a whole wing of the first story. The masonry of the upper corridors rests on eighteen cast iron columns, weighing 3,000 lbs. each. The ceiling of the refectory is exceedingly strong and handsome; every story, in fact, is vaulted from top to bottom.

A corridor eight feet wide and two hundred and sixty-five feet long, intersects the centre of each story. All the vestibules, corridors and passages are paved with ceramic square blocks brought from Belgium.

The most notable part of the structure is the main staircase, entirely of iron and stone; it contains 120 steps 8 feet long, 16 feet broad, 5 inches high, each step hewn out of a single block. The iron material weighs about 37,000 lbs. There is also another flight of steps made of iron. A hydraulic elevator in the centre of the building will provide an easy access to every story.

The roofed galleries, eight feet wide, attached to each story on the front, present promenades and views unrivaled in the city looking towards Levi and the Island of Orleans. On a large stone or the loftiest part of the front wall, over the window, is inscribed— Conditum, 1880.

The arch of the entrance to the Court House burnt in 1872, which, it was said, had formed part of the old Récollet Church, destroyed by fire on 6th Sept., 1796, has been used to build the arch of the porch which leads from the seminary garden to the farm-yard in rear. There are 230 windows in this new wing which has a mansard roof. It is computed that 4,000,000 bricks have been employed in the masonry. The architect is J. F. Peachy.

STAFF OF THE LAVAL UNIVERSITY IN 1881.

Rector, Revd. Ed. Méthot,—Superior of Quebec Seminary.
Professor of Commercial and Maritime Law,—Hon. Napoleon
Casault, J.S.C.
Professor of Civil Procedure,—Hon. Ulric J. Tessier, J.Q.B.
Professor of Civil Law, etc.,—Hon. Chas. Thos. A. Langelier.
Professor of Roman Law,—Hon. Ed. James Flynn.
Professor of Commercial Law,—Hon. Richard Alleyn, J.S.C.
Secretary,—Thos. Chase Casgrain, Barrister.
Professor of Internal Pathology,—Dr. Jas. Arthur Sewell, M.D.
Professor of External Pathology,—Dr. J. E. Landry, M.D.
Professor of Toxicology, etc.,—Dr. Alfred Jackson, M.D.
Professor of Descriptive Anatomy,—Dr. Eusèbe Lemieux, M.D.
Professor of Medical Jurisprudence,—Dr. H. A. LaRue, M.D.
Professor of General Pathology,—Dr. Simard, M.D.
Professor of Materia Medica, etc.,—Dr. Chas. Verge, M.D.
Professor of Practical Anatomy, etc.,—Dr. Laurent Cattelier, M.D.
Professor of Clinical—Children's Diseases,—Dr. Arthur Vallée, M.D.
Professor of Clinical—Old People's Diseases,—Dr. Michael Ahern, M.D.
Professor of Comparative Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology,—Dr. L. J.
A. Simard, M.D.
Professor of Political Economy,—Hon. C. T. A. Langelier.
Professor of Physical Science,—Rev. Mr. Laflamme.
Professor of French Literature,—Rev. Ed. Méthot.
Professor of Greek Literature,—Rev. L. Baudet.
Professor of Mineralogy,—Rev. J. C. Laflamme.
Professor of Natural Law,—Mgr. Beng. Paquet.
Professor of Dogmatic Theology,—Rev. L. H. Paquet.
Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Rev. L. N. Begin.

On the conspicuous site where stands the unpretending brick structure known as our present House of Parliament, (which succeeded to the handsome cut stone edifice destroyed by fire in 1864) one might, in 1660, have seen the dwelling of a man of note, Ruette d'Auteuil. D'Auteuil became subsequently Attorney General and had lively times with that sturdy old ruler, Count de Frontenac. Ruette d'Auteuil had sold the lot for $600 (3,000 livres de 20 sols) to Major Provost, who resold it, with the two story stone house thereon erected, for $3,000, to Bishop de St. Vallier. The latter having bequeathed it to his ecclesiastical successor, Bishop Panet ceded it in the year 1830 to the Provincial Government for an annual ground rent of £1,000—this rent is continued to the Archbishop by the Provincial Government of Quebec. No one now cares to enquire how Bishop Panet made such an excellent bargain, though a cause is assigned.

Palace Street was thus denominated from its leading direct from the Upper Town to the Intendant's Palace—latterly the King's woodyard. In earlier days it went by the name of Rue des Pauvres, [49] (Street of the Poor,) from its intersecting the domain of the Hôtel Dieu, whose revenues were devoted to the maintenance of the poor sheltered behind its massive old walls. Close by, on Fabrique street, Bishop de St. Vallier had founded le Bureau des Pauvres, where the beggars of Quebec (a thriving class to this day) received alms, in order to deter them from begging in the country round the city. The success which crowned this humble retreat of the mendicant led the philanthropic Bishop to found the General Hospital in the Seigneurie de Notre Dame des Anges, beyond St. Roch. He received there nuns of the Convents of the Ursulines and of the Hôtel Dieu and gave them the administration of the newly founded establishment, where, moreover, he at a more recent date resided as almoner of the poor.

At the western corner of Palace and St. John streets, has stood since 1771, a well known landmark erected to replace the statue of Saint John the Baptist, which had, under the French régime, adorned the corner house. After the surrender of Quebec to the British forces, the owners of the house, fearing the outer barbarians might be wanting in respect to the saint's effigy, sent it to the General Hospital, where it stood over the principal entrance until a few years back. They replaced it by a wooden statue of General Wolfe, sculptured by the Brothers Cholette, at the request of George Hipps, a loyal butcher. The peregrinations of this historic relic, in 1838, from Quebec to Halifax—from Halifax to Bermuda, thence to Portsmouth, and finally to its old niche at Wolfe's corner, St. John Street, whilst they afforded much sport to the middies of H. M. Ship Inconstant, who visited our port that summer and carried away the General, were the subject of several newspaper paragraphs in prose and verse.

Finally, the safe return of the "General" with a brand new coat of paint and varnish in a deal box, consigned to His Worship, the Mayor of Quebec sent by unknown hands, was made an occasion of rejoicing to every friend of the British hero whom Quebec contained, and they were not few.

Some of the actors of this practical joke, staunch upholders of Britannia's sovereignty of the sea, now pace the quarter deck, t'is said, proud and stern admirals.

The street and hill leading down from the parochial Church, (whose title was Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,) to the outlet, where Hope Gate was built in 1786, was called Ste. Famille street from its vicinity to the Cathedral, which, as the parish church of the citizens of Quebec, was formerly called the Ste. Famille Church. On the east side, half way up the hill still exist the ruins of the old homestead of the Seigneurs de Léry—in 1854, occupied by Sir E. P. Taché, since, sold to the Quebec Seminary. A lofty fence on the street hides from view the hoary old poplar trees which of yore decked the front of the old manor. On the opposite side, a little higher up, also survives the old house of Mr. Jean Langevin, father of the Bishop of Rimouski, and of Sir H. L. Langevin. Here in the closing days of French Dominion lived the first Acadian, who brought to Quebec the news of the dispersion of his compatriots, so eloquently sung by Longfellow, Dr. Lajus, of French extraction, who settled at Quebec and married a sister of Bishop Hubert. On the northern angle of this old tenement you now read "Ste. Famille street."

St. Stanislas street, the western boundary of the ancient estate of the Jesuits—on the eastern portion of which their college was built in 1637— owes its saintly nomenclature to the learned order—no doubt desirous of handing down to posterity an enduring souvenir of a valiant ascetic, though youthful member of the fraternity. Its northern end reaches at right angles to Ste. Hélène street in a line with the old tenement recently occupied by the late Narcisse Constantin Faucher, Esq., Barrister—recently leased by the late Lieut.-Col. John Sewell, one of Sir Isaac Brock's officers at Queenstown Heights in 1812 In 1835 it was the home of a Mrs. Montgomery. That year it was burglarized in a somewhat romantic—shall we say—humane manner by Chambers' murderous gang; the aged and demure mistress of the house and her young maid servant being rolled up in the velvety pleats of the parlor carpet and deposited gently, tenderly and unharmed in the subterranean and discreet region of the cellar, so that the feelings of either should not be lacerated by the sight of the robbery going on above stairs.

Who will dare assert that among the sanguinary crew who in 1836, heavily ironed, bid adieu to Quebec forever, leaving their country for their country's good—in the British Brig Ceres, all bound as permanent settlers to Van Dieman's Land—who will dare assert there was not some Jack Sheppard, with a tender spot in his heart towards the youthful Briseis who acknowledged Mrs. Montgomery's gentle sway.

A conspicuous landmark on St. Stanislas street is Trinity Chapel.

Of yore there stood in rear of the chapel the "Theatre Royal," opened 15th February, [50] 1832, where the Siddons, Keans and Kembles held forth to our admiring fathers. Church and theatre both owed their birth to the late Chief Justice Sewell. The site of this theatre was purchased some years back by the ecclesiastical authorities of St Patrick Church. Thus disappeared the fane once sacred to Thespis and Melpomene, its fun-loving votaries, as such, knew it no more.

TRINITY CHURCH.

The church of the "Holy Trinity," St. Stanislas street, Quebec, was erected on a site which, judging from the discovery of a skeleton, when the foundations were laid, had been a cemetery.

The architecture of this church is Doric, and is considered correct both internally and externally. It is a substantial building of good proportions, 90 feet in length by 49 in breadth, is supplied with an organ and bell. It is commodious and capable of seating 700 persons. The sittings are free. It contains a beautiful marble monument, by Manning, of London, which was erected to the memory of the late Hon. Jonathan Sewell, LL.D., the founder of the church, also a few other tablets in memory of different members of the family of Sewell. The present incumbent and proprietor is the Rev. Edmund Willoughby Sewell, M.A., but it is confidently expected that ere long it will pass into the hands of an incorporated body, with whom the future presentment of the officiating clergyman will rest.

On a tin-plate on the corner-stone of the chapel, the following inscription occurs:

"Quebec, 15th September, 1824.

On Thursday was deposited in a private manner, under a stone at
the north-east angle of the new Chapel of Ease to the English
Cathedral, a tin plate having the following Latin inscription:

Anno Dm. Christi MDCCCXXIV Regnante
Georgio Quarto, Britaniarum Rege Fidet
Defensore Reverendissimo Patre in Deo
Jacob Mountain S. T. P. Episcopo Quebecensi,
Hanc Capellam, ad perpetuum honorem
Sacrosanctae Trinitatis, et in usum Fidelium
Ecclesiae Anglican dedicatam Vir honorabilis
Jonothan Sewell, Provinciae Canadae inferioris
Judex Primarius, et Henrietta ejus uxor
Adificaverunt

Edmundo Willoughby Sewell, clerico, uno de eorum filiis Capellano
primo

G. BLAICKLOCK, Architecto
J. PHILIPS, Conditore

On the other side is the inscription on the monument:

IN MEMORY OF JONATHAN SEWELL, LL.D.

The Pious and Liberal Founder of this Chapel.
Endowed with talents of no common order
He was selected in early life to fill the highest offices
in this Province
He was appointed Solicitor General A.D. 1793,
Attorney and Advocate General and Judge of the Court of Vice
Admiralty, A.D. 1795, Chief Justice of the Province and Chairman
of the Executive Council A.D. 1809.
Speaker of the Legislative Council A.D. 1809.
Distinguished in his public capacity,
He shone equally conspicuous as a statesman and a jurist.
Naturally mild and courteous, he combined the meekness of the
Christian
with the authority of the Judge.
Beloved at home as a kind father, a firm friend and an
affectionate husband.
Respected abroad as an acknowledged example of truth, faithfulness
and integrity;
He has left a name to which not only his descendants in all future
ages, But his country may recur
With just pride, deep reverence, and a grateful recollection.
He was born in Boston, Mass., June 6th, 1766, and died in this
city, in the Fulness of the Faith in Christ, November 13th, 1839
in the 74th year of his age
This tribute to departed worth is erected by his sorrowing widow."

The southern extreme of St. Stanislas street terminates at the intersection of Ste. Anne street, past the old jail, which dated from 1810. Lugubrious memories crowd round this massive tolbooth—of which the only traces of the past are some vaulted lock-up or cells beneath the rooms of the Literary and Historical Society, one of which, provided with a solid new iron door, is set apart for the reception of the priceless M.S.S. of the society. The oak flooring of the passages to the cells exhibit many initials, telling a tale of more than one guilty life—of remorse—let us hope, of repentance.

The narrow door in the wall and the iron balcony, over the chief entrance leading formerly to the fatal drop which cut short the earthly career of the assassin or burglar [51] was speedily removed when the directors of the Morrin College in 1870 purchased the building from Government to locate permanently the seat of learning due to the munificence of the late Joseph Morrin, M.D.

The once familiar inscription above the prison door, the rendering of which in English was a favourite amusement to many of the juniors of the High School, or Seminary, on their way to class, that also has disappeared:

"Carcer iste bonos a pravis vindicare possit!" May this prison teach the wicked for the edification of the good."

The damp, vaulted cells in the basement, where the condemned felon in silence awaited his doom, or the airy wards above, where the impecunious debtor or the runaway sailor meditatively or riotously defied their traditional enemies the constable and policeman, now echo the Hebrew, Greek and Latin utterances of the Morrin College professors, and on meeting nights the disquisitions before the Literary and Historical Society, of lecturers on Canadian history, literature or art.

It is the glory and privilege of the latter institution in accordance with the object of its Royal Charter, to offer to citizens of all creeds and nationalities, a neutral ground, sacred to intellectual pursuits. It dates back to 1823, when His Excellency, George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, assisted by the late Dr. John Charlton Fisher, LL.D., and ex-editor of the New York Albion, successfully matured a long meditated plan to promote the study of history and of literature. The Literary and Historical Society held its first meeting in the Château St. Louis. It is curious to glance over the list of names in its charter. [52] It contained the leading men on the Bench, in the professions, and in the city. In 1832 the library and museum occupied a large room in the Union building facing the Ring. From thence they were transferred to the upper story of the Parliament Buildings, on Mountain Hill, where a portion of both was destroyed by the conflagration which burnt down the stately cut-stone edifice in 1854, with the stone of which in 1860, the Champlain Market Hall was built. What was saved of the library and museum was transferred to apartments in St Louis street, then owned by the late George Henderson, J.P. [53] The next removal, about 1860, brought the institution to Masonic Hall, corner of Garden and St. Louis streets. Here, also, the fire-fiend assailed the treasures of knowledge and specimens of natural history, of the society, which, with its household gods, flitted down to a suite of rooms above the savings bank apartments in St. John Street, from whence, about 1870, it issued to become an annual tenant in the north wing of the Morrin College, where it has flourished ever since.

In the protracted and chequered existence of this pioneer among Canadian literary associations, one day, above all others is likely from the preparations—pageant and speeches which marked it, to be long remembered among Quebecers as a red letter day in the annals of the society. The celebration in December, 1875 of the centennial of the repulse of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery and Colonel Benedict Arnold, who, at dawn on the 31st December, 1775, attempted to take the old fortress by storm. The first, with a number of his followers, met with his death at Près-de-Ville, in Champlain street; the other was carried wounded in the knee, to the General Hospital, St. Roch's suburbs, whilst 427 of his command were taken prisoners of war and incarcerated until September following in the Quebec Seminary, the Récollet Convent and the Dauphin Prison, since destroyed, but then existing, a little north of St. John's Gate, inside. The worthy commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Col. T. B. Strange, R.A., then stationed at the Citadel of Quebec, having consented to narrate the incidents which marked the attack of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery at Près-de-Ville (which we reserve for another page,) the description of Col. Benedict Arnold's assault on the Sault-au-Matelot barriers, was, left to ourselves. We subjoin a portion of the address delivered by us at this memorable centenary. It embodies an important incident of Quebec history:

ARNOLD'S ASSAULT ON SAULT-AU-MATELOT BARRIERS.

MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

"The event which we intend commemorating this evening, is one at peculiar interest to us as Canadians, and more especially so to us as Quebecers, the narrow, I may say, the providential escape of the whole Province from foreign subjugation one century ago. It is less a chapter of Canadian annals I purpose to read to you this night, than some minute details little known, and gleaned from the journals left by eye witnesses of the thrilling hand to hand fight which took place a few hundred yards from where you sit, under our walls, on the 31st December, 1775, between Col. Arnold's New England soldiery and our own garrison.

Possibly, you may not all realize the critical position of the city on that memorable morning. Next day, a Sunday, ushered in the new year. Think you there was much "visiting," much festivity, on that new year's day? alas! though victory crowned our banner, there was mourning in too many Canadian homes; we, too, had to bury our dead.

Let us take a rapid glimpse of what had proceeded the assault.

Two formidable parties, under experienced leaders, in execution of the campaign planned by George Washington and our former Deputy Post Master General, the able Benjamin Franklin, had united under the walls of Quebec. Both leaders intimately knew its highways and by-ways. Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, before settling near New York, had held a lieutenant's commission in His Britannic Majesty's 17th Foot, had taken part in the war of the conquest, in 1759, and had visited Quebec. Col. Benedict Arnold, attracted by the fame of our Norman horses, had more than once been in the city with the object of trading in them.

Benedict Arnold was indeed a daring commander. His successful journey through trackless forests between Cambridge and Quebec—his descent in boats through rivers choked with ice, and through dangerous rapids; the cold, hunger and exposure endured by himself and his soldiers, were feats of endurance of which any nation might justly feel proud.

Major-General Sir James Carmichael Smyth, a high authority on such matters, says of this winter campaign: "It is, perhaps, one of the most wonderful instances of perseverance and spirit upon record." So much for the endurance and bravery of our foes. I am compelled to pass unnoticed many important incidents of the campaign in order to reach sooner the main facts.

What was the real state of the Colony on that identical 31st December, one hundred years ago? Why, it was simply desperate. The wave of invasion had surged over our border. Fort after fort, city after city, had capitulated—Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort St. John, Fort Chambly, Montreal, Sorel, Three Rivers. Montgomery with his victorious bands had borne everything before him like a tornado. The Canadian peasantry dreaded the very sight of warriors who must be ball-proof, as they were supposed, by a curious mistake, to be "incased in plate- iron," vêtus de tole, instead de toile. [54] The red [54a] and black flag of successful rebellion floated over the suburbs of Quebec. Morgan's and Humphries' riflemen were thundering at the very gates of the city, those dear old walls—(loud applause)—which some Vandals are longing to demolish, alone kept away the wolf.

Levi, Sillery, Ste Foye, Lorette, Charlesbourg, the Island of Orleans, Beauport and every inch of British territory around the city were in possession of the invaders, every house in the suburbs sheltered an enemy—every bush in the country might conceal a deadly foe. Treachery stalked within the camp—disaffection was busy inside and outside of the walls. At first many of the citizens, English as well as French, seemed disinclined to take part in the great family quarrel which had originated at Boston—the British of New England pitted against the British of Canada. The confusion of ideas and opinions must at first have been great. Several old British officers who had served in the wars of the conquest of Canada, had turned their swords against their old messmates—their brothers-in-arms—amongst others, Richard Montgomery, Moses Hazen and Donald Campbell. Quebec, denuded of its regulars, had indeed a most gloomy prospect to look upon. No soldiers to man her walls except her citizens unaccustomed to warfare—no succour to expect from England till the following spring—scantiness of provisions and a terrified peasantry who had not the power, often no desire, to penetrate into the beleaguered city during winter.

Were not these trying times for our worthy sires?

Such was the posture of affairs, when to the general joy, our gallant Governor Guy Carleton, returned and rejoined his dauntless little army at Quebec, having succeeded, thanks to Captain Bouchette and other brave men, in eluding the vigilance of the enemy in possession of Three Rivers, Sorel and Montreal. Turn over the records of those days and yon will see the importance our fathers attached to the results of the Sault-au-Matelot and Près-de-Ville engagements.

For more than twenty-five years, the 31st December, 1775, was annually commemorated, generally by a club dinner given at Ferguson's Hotel, (Freemasons' Hall?) or at some other hotel of note—sometimes a Château ball was added by the Governor of the Province. In 1778, we find in the old Quebec Gazette, a grand fête champêtre, given by Lady Maria Carleton and her gallant partner Sir Guy, at the Red House, a fashionable rustic Hostelry, kept by Alex. Menut, the prince of Canadian Soyers of those days, who had been Maître d'Hôtel to General Murray, and selected that year by Their Excellencies. It stood on the Little River road, (the land is now owned by Mr. Tozer) about two miles from Quebec. It reads thus in the Gazette of 8th January, 1778:

Quebec, 8th January, 1778._

"Yesterday, seventh night, being the anniversary of the victory obtained over the Rebels in their attack upon this City in the year 1775, a most elegant Ball and Supper were given at Menut's Tavern by the Gentlemen who served in the Garrison during that Memorable Winter. The Company, consisting of upwards of two hundred and thirty Ladies and Gentlemen, made a grand and brilliant appearance, and nothing but mirth and good humour reigned all night long. About half-past six, His Excellency, Sir Guy Carleton, Knight of the Bath, our worthy Governor and Successful General, dressed in the militia uniform, (which added lustre to the Ribbon and Star) as were also all the gentlemen of that corps who served under him during the siege, entered the assembly room accompanied by Lady Maria, &c., &c., and the Ball was soon opened by her Ladyship and the Honorable Henry Caldwell, Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the British Militia. The dancing continued until half- past twelve, when the Ladies were conducted into the supper room, where Mr. Menut exhibited fresh proofs of that superior excellence in the culinary art he so justly claims above his Peers…. The company in general broke up about four in the morning, highly satisfied with their entertainment and in perfect good humour with one another. May that disposition prevail until the next and every succeeding 31st of December, and may each return of that glorious day (the event of which was not only the preservation of this garrison; but of the whole Province) be commemorated with the same spirit and unanimity in grateful remembrance of our happy deliverance from the snares of the enemy, and with grateful acknowledgements of those blessings of peace and tranquility of Government and Laws we now enjoy in consequence of that day's success."

The Gazette of the following year carefully chronicles the gathering of the Veterans of 1775.—"Thursday last being the anniversary of the 31st December, a Day which will be ever famous in the annals of this country for the defeat of Faction and Rebellion, the same was observed with the utmost festivity In the evening a ball and cold Collation was given by the gentlemen who composed the Garrison in the winter of 1775, to His Excellency and a numerous and brilliant assembly of Ladies and Gentlemen, the satisfaction every one felt in Commemorating so Glorious an event, strongly appeared by the joy which was visible in every contenance."

In 1790, according to the Quebec Herald, the annual dinner was held at the Merchant's Coffee House, by about 30 survivors of the Veterans, who agreed to meet twice a year, instead of once, their joviality apparently increasing with their age.

In 1794, [55] the Gazette acquaints us that the Anniversary Dinner was to be held at Ferguson's Hotel, on the 6th May. [56] We find both nationalities fraternising in these loyal demonstrations. M. DeBonne (afterwards Judge DeBonne) taking his place next to loyal John Coffin, of Près-de-Ville fame, and probably Simon Fraser and the Hon. Hugh Finlay, will join Lieutenant Dambourgès and Col Dupré, in toasting King George III. under the approving eye of Lt. Col. Caldwell, Wolfe's Deputy Quarter-Master General. Col. Caldwell, lived to a green old age, and expired in this city in 1810. Our esteemed fellow-citizen, Errol Boyd Lindsay, remembers him well, and in front of whom I stand, a stalwart Volunteer of 1837, Col. Gugy, is now relating how when a lad he once dined with Col. Caldwell, some seventy years ago, at Belmont, amidst excellent cheer.

The Quebec Gazette teems with loyal English and French songs of 1775, for a quarter of a century, and for more than twenty-five years the anniversary banquet, ball or dinner was religiously kept up.

But we must hie away from these "junketings"—these festive boards, which our loyal ancestors seem to have infinitely enjoyed. We must hie away the long wished for "snow storm," the signal of attack has come. 'Tis five o'clock before dawn. Hark to the rattle of the alarm drum. Hark! Hark to the tolling of every city bell (and you know Quebec bells are numerous) louder! louder even than the voice of the easterly storm. To ARMS! To ARMS! resounds in the Market Place—the Place d'Armes—and in the streets of our slumbering city.

Instead of giving you my views on the attack, I shall summon from the silent, the meditative past, one of the stirring actors in this thrilling encounter, an intrepid and youthful Volunteer, under Arnold, then aged seventeen years, John Joseph Henry. He will tell you how his countrymen attacked us:

"It was not," says Judge Henry, "until the night of the 31st December, 1775, that such kind of weather ensued as was considered favorable for the assault. The fore part of the night was admirably enlightened by a luminous moon. Many of us, officers as well as privates, had dispersed in various directions among the farm and tippling houses of the vicinity. We well knew the signal for rallying. This was no other than a "snow storm." About 12 o'clock, P.M., the heaven was overcast. We repaired to quarters. By 2 o'clock we were accoutred and began our march. The storm was outrageous, and the cold wind extremely biting. In this northern country the snow is blown horizontally into the faces of the travellers on most occasions—this was our case.

When we came to Craig's house, near Palace Gate, a horrible roar of cannon took place, and a ringing of all the bells of the city, which are very numerous, and of all sizes. Arnold, leading the forlorn hope, advanced, perhaps, one hundred yards, before the main body. After these followed Lamb's artillerists. Morgan's company led in the secondary part of the column of infantry. Smith's followed, headed by Steele, the Captain from particular causes being absent. Hendrick's company succeeded and the eastern men so far as known to me, followed in due order. The snow was deeper than in the fields, because of the nature of the ground. The path made by Arnold, Lamb, and Morgan was almost imperceptible, because of the falling snow. Covering the locks of our guns, with the lappets of our coats, holding down our heads (for it was impossible to bear up our faces against the imperious storm of wind and snow), we ran, along the foot of the hill in single file. Along the first of our run, from Palace Gate, for several hundred paces, there stood a range of insulated buildings, which seemed to be store-houses, we passed these quickly in single file, pretty wide apart. The interstices were from thirty to fifty yards. In these intervals, we received a tremendous fire of musketry from the ramparts above us. Here we lost some brave men, when powerless to return the salutes we received, as the enemy was covered by his impregnable defences. They were even sightless to us, we could see nothing but the blaze from the muzzles of their muskets.

A number of vessels of various sizes lay along the beach, moored by their hawsers or cables to the houses. Passing after my leader, Lieutenant Steele, at a great rate, one of those ropes took me under the chin, and cast me head long down, a declivity of at least fifteen feet. The place appeared to be either a dry-dock or a saw-pit. My descent was terrible, gun and all was involved in a great depth of snow. Most unluckily, however, one of my knees received a violent contusion on a piece of scraggy ice, which was covered by the snow. On like occasions, we can scarcely expect, in the hurry of attack, that our intimates should attend to any other than their own concern. Mine went from me, regardless of my fate. Scrambling out of the cavity, without assistance, divesting my person and gun of the snow, and limping into the line, I attempted to assume a station and preserve it. These were none of my friends—they knew me not. I had not gone twenty yards, in my hobbling gait, before I was thrown out, and compelled to await the arrival of a chasm in the line, when a new place might be obtained. Men in affairs such as this, seem in the main, to lose the compassionate feeling, and are averse from being dislodged from their original stations. We proceeded rapidly, exposed to a long line of fire from the garrison, for now we were unprotected by any buildings. The fire had slackened in a small degree. The enemy had been partly called off to resist the General, and strengthen the party opposed to Arnold in our front. Now we saw Colonel Arnold returning, wounded in the leg, and supported by two gentlemen; a parson, Spring, was one, and, in my belief, a Mr. Ogden, the other. Arnold called on the troops, in a cheering voice, as we passed, urging us forward, yet it was observable among the soldiery, with whom it was my misfortune to be now placed, that the Colonel's retiring damped their spirits. A cant term "We are sold," was repeatedly heard in many parts throughout the line. Thus proceeding, enfiladed by an animated but lessened fire, we came to the first barrier, where Arnold had been wounded in the onset. This contest had lasted but a few minutes, and was somewhat severe, but the energy of our men prevailed. The embrasures were entered when the enemy were discharging their guns. The guard, consisting of thirty persons, were, either taken or fled, leaving their arms behind them. At this time it was discovered that our guns were useless, because of the dampness. The snow which lodged in our fleecy coats was melted by the warmth of our bodies. Thence came that disaster. Many of the party, knowing the circumstance, threw aside their own, and seized the British arms. These were not only elegant, but were such as befitted the hand of a real soldier. It was said, that ten thousand stand of such arms had been received from England, in the previous summer, for arming the Canadian militia. These people were loath to bear them in opposition to our rights. From the first barrier to the second, there was a circular course along the sides of houses, and partly through a street, probably of three hundred yards or more. This second barrier was erected across and near the mouth of a narrow street, adjacent to the foot of the hill, which opened into a larger, leading soon into the main body of the Lower Town. Here it was, that the most serious contention took place: this became the bone of strife. The admirable Montgomery, by this time, (though it was unknown to us) was no more; yet, we expected momentarily to join him. The firing on that side of the fortress ceased, his division fell under the command of a Colonel Campbell, of the New York line, a worthless chief, who retreated, without making an effort, in pursuance of the general's original plans. The inevitable consequence was, that the whole of the forces on that side of the city, and those who were opposed to the dastardly persons employed to make the false attacks, embodied and came down to oppose our division. Here was sharp-shooting. We were on the disadvantageous side of the barrier, for such a purpose. Confined in a narrow street, hardly more than twenty feet wide, and on the lower ground, scarcely a ball, well aimed or otherwise, but must take effect upon us. Morgan, Hendricks, Steele, Humphrey's, and a crowd of every class of the army, had gathered into the narrow pass, attempting to surmount the barrier, which was about twelve or more feet high, and so strongly constructed, that nothing but artillery, could effectuate its destruction. There was a construction, fifteen or twenty yards within the barrier, upon a rising grounde, the cannon of which much overtopped the height of the barrier, hence, we were assailed by grape shot in abundance. This erection we called the platform. Again, within the barrier, and close into it, were two ranges of musketeers, armed with musket and bayonet, ready to receive those who might venture the dangerous leap. Add to all this, that the enemy occupied the upper chambers of the houses, in the interior of the barrier, on both sides of the street, from the windows of which we became fair marks. The enemy, having the advantage of the ground in front, a vast superiority of numbers, dry and better arms, gave them an irresistible power, in so narrow a space. Humphreys, upon a mound, which was speedily erected, attended by many brave men, attempted to scale the barrier, but was compelled to retreat, by the formidable phalanx of bayonets within, and the weight of fire from the platform and the buildings. Morgan, brave to temerity, stormed and raged; Hendricks, Steele, Nichols, Humphreys, equally brave, were sedate, though under a tremendous fire. The platform, which was within our view, was evacuated by the accuracy of our fire, and few persons dared venture there again. Now it was, that the necessity of occupancy of the houses, on our side of the barrier, became apparent. Orders were given by Morgan to that effect. We entered. This was near day-light. The houses were a shelter, from which we might fire with much accuracy. Yet, even here, some valuable lives were lost. Hendricks, when aiming his rifle at some prominent person, died by a straggling ball through his heart. He staggered a few feet backwards, and fell upon a bed, where he instantly expired. He was an ornament of our little society. The amiable Humphreys died by a like kind of wound, but it was in the street, before we entered the buildings. Many other brave men fell at this place; among these were Lieutenant Cooper, of Connecticut, and perhaps fifty or sixty noncommissioned officers and privates. The wounded were numerous, and many of them dangerously so. Captain Lamb, of the York artillerists; had nearly one-half of his face carried away, by a grape or canister shot. My friend Steele lost three of his fingers, as he was presenting his gun to fire; Captain Hubbard and Lieutenant Fisdle, were all among the wounded. When we reflect upon the whole of the dangers of this barricade, and the formidable force that came to annoy us, it is a matter of surprise that so many should escape death and wounding as did. All hope of success having vanished, a retreat was contemplated, but hesitation, uncertainty, and a lassitude of mind, which generally takes place in the affairs of men, when we fail in a project, upon which we have attached much expectation, now followed. The moment was foolishly lost, when such a movement might have been made with tolerable success. Captain Laws, at the head of two hundred men, issuing from Palace Gate, most fairly and handsomely cooped us up. Many of the men, aware of the consequences, and all our Indians and Canadians (except Natanis [57] and another,) escaped across the ice, which covered the Bay of St. Charles, before the arrival of Captain Laws. This was a dangerous and desperate adventure, but worth while the undertaking, in avoidance of our subsequent sufferings. Its desperateness consisted in running two miles across shoal ice, thrown up by the high tides of this latitude— and its danger, in the meeting with air holes, deceptively covered by the bed of snow. Speaking circumspectly, yet it must be admitted conjecturally, it seems to me, that in the whole of the attack, of commissioned officers, we had six killed, five wounded, and of non-commissioned and privates, at least one hundred and fifty killed, and fifty or sixty wounded. Of the enemy, many were killed and many more wounded, comparatively, than on our side, taking into view the disadvantages we laboured under; and that but two occasions happened when we could return their fire, that is, at the first and second barriers. Neither the American account of this affair, as published by Congress, nor that of Sir Guy Carleton, admit the loss of either side to be so great as it really was, in my estimation * * * * * as to the British, on the platform they were fair objects to us. They were soon driven thence by the acuteness of our shooting. * * * *

Perhaps there never was a body of men associated, who better understood the use and manner of employing a rifle, than our corps; while by this time of the attack, they had their guns in good order. When we took possession of the houses, we had a great range. Our opportunities to kill, were enlarged. Within one hundred yards, every man must die. The British however were at home—they could easily drag their dead out of sight, and bear their wounded to the Hospital. It was the reverse with us. Captain Prentis, who commanded the provost guards, would tell me of seven or eight killed, and fifteen or twenty wounded; opposed to this the sentries, (who were generally Irishmen, that guarded us with much simplicity, if not honesty,) frequently admitted of forty or fifty killed, and many more wounded. The latter assertions accorded with my opinion. The reasons for this belief are these: when the dead, on the following days, were transported on the carioles which passed our habitation for deposition in the "dead house," we observed many bodies, of which none of us had any knowledge; and again when our wounded were returned to us from the hospital, they uniformly spoke of being surrounded there, in its many characters, by many of the wounded of the enemy. To the great honor of General Carleton, they were all, whether friends or enemies, treated with like attention."

The Continentals of Brigadier-General Montgomery had settled on the following plan of attack:—Col Livingston, with his three hundred Canadians and Major Brown, was to simulate an attack on the western portion of the walls—Montgomery to come from Holland House down by Wolfe's Cove, creep along the narrow path close to the St. Lawrence and meet Arnold on his way from the General Hospital at the foot of Mountain Hill, and then ascend to Upper Town.

The brilliant fête littéraire held by the Literary and Historical
Society to commemorate the event was thus noticed in the Morning
Chronicle of Dec 30th, 1875:

THE LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S CENTENARY FÊTE.

It would be hardly possible to imagine a more graceful or unique gathering than that which assembled in the rooms of the Literary and Historical Society last evening, for the purpose of celebrating with all possible éclat that gloriously memorable event, the repulse of the troops commanded by General Richard Montgomery, of the American Army, whilom officer of the 17th Regiment of Infantry in the service of his Britannic Majesty George III, who on the blusterous wintry morning of the 31st December, 1775, attempted an assault upon the redoubts and fortifications which at that time did the duty of our present Citadel, and whose intrepidity was rewarded with a soldier's death, and his want of success formed the nucleus of the power which is so firmly established in this Royal Canada of ours to day.

The arrangements made by the Society for the reception of their unusually numerous guests and the decorations of the various apartments, were all that could be wished—commodious and tasteful. In the entrance hall the Royal standard floated, and there the B. Battery Band was placed. Turning up the left hand flight of steps the visitor —passing the large class room of Morrin College, transformed for the nonce into spacious refreshment buffets—was ushered into the lecture room, from the galleries of which flags of many nations and many colours were drooping. The raised dais, occupied during the delivery of the addresses by James Stevenson, Esq., Senior Vice-President, L. & H. Society, in the chair; Lieut.-Col. Bland Strange, R. S. M. Bouchette, Esq., Dr. Boswell, Vice-Presidents, J. M. LeMoine, Esq., and Commander Ashe, R.N., ex-Presidents, was flanked on either side with the blue and silver banners of St. Andrew's Society, bearing the arms and escutcheon of Scotia, and their proud motto "Nemo me impune lascessit." Bunting and fresh spruce foliage gave an air of freshness to all the adornable parts of the room. Immediately opposite the lectern, which was illuminated with wax candles, placed in last century candlesticks, and attached to the gallery railings, was a fine collection of Lochaber axes, clustered around a genuine wooden Gaelic shield studded with polished knobs of glittering brass. Long before the hour of eight the company had increased to such an extent that the room was crowded to the doors, but not inconveniently as the ventilation was unexceptionable. With accustomed punctuality, James Stevenson, Esq., acting in the absence of the President, opened the meeting with some highly appropriate remarks relative to the historical value of the subjects about to be discussed and summarising very succinctly the events immediately previous to the beleaguering of the fortress city. He alluded in stirring terms to the devotion which had been manifested by the British and French defenders, who resolved rather to be buried in the ruins than surrender the city. He stated that he thought it especially meet and proper that the Literary and Historical Society here should have taken up the matter and dealt with it in this way. He alluded in eulogistic terms to the capability of the gentlemen about to address them and, after regretting the unavoidable absence of Lt-Col. Coffin, a lineal descendant of an officer present, formally introduced the first speaker, Lieutenant- Colonel Strange, commandant of Quebec Garrison, and Dominion Inspector of Artillery. This gallant officer, who on rising was received with loud and hearty cheering by the audience, plunged with characteristic military brevity in medias res, simply remarking, at the outset, that he, in such a position, was but a rear rank man, while Colonel Coffin would have been a front-ranker; but his soldierly duty was to fill that position in the absence of him to whom the task would have been officially assigned. The subject which formed a distinct section of the major topic of the evening was then taken up. Inasmuch as it is our intention, and we believe that of the Society, to reproduce faithfully in pamphlet form the graphic, interesting and detailed word-pictures of the ever memorable events of the 31st December, 1775, as given by the learned and competent gentlemen who addressed the meeting, it suffices to say in the present brief notice of the proceedings that Colonel Strange exhaustively treated that portion which referred to the attack and defence at Pres-de-Ville—the place in the vicinity of which now stands the extensive wharves of the Allan Company. Many incidents of the siege, utterly unknown to ordinary readers of history were recalled last night, and many things that have hitherto been dubious, or apparently unaccountable explained away. The story of the finding of the snow-covered and hard-frozen corpse of the unfortunate General and his Aide-de-Camp, was told with much pathos, as were details of his burial. The references to descendants of then existing families still residents in Quebec, were extremely interesting, because many were among the audience. At the conclusion of Colonel Strange's admirable resumé, and some further pointed remarks from the Chairman, Mr. J. M. LeMoine, who is par excellence and par assiduité our Quebec historian, whose life has been mainly devoted to compilation of antiquarian data touching the walls, the streets, the relics, the families, the very Flora, and Fauna of our cherished Stadacona—commenced his erudite and amusing sketches of the day, taken from the stand point of the enemy's headquarters, and the fray in the Sault-au-Matelot. Interspersing in his own well digested statement of events, he chose the best authenticated accounts from contemporaneous participants, British, French Canadian and American, proving that the record as presented by Col. Strange and himself last night, was a "plain unvarnished truthful tale," a reliable mirror in which was faithfully reflected all that was historically interesting as affecting Quebec in the Campaign of 1775-6. When Mr. LeMoine had terminated his address, which was of considerable length, Mr. Stevenson concluded this portion of the proceedings with a most eulogistic and deserved recognition of the devotion which the two gentlemen who had read during the evening had shewn in preparing their respective papers, and a vote of thanks to them was heartily and unanimously accorded. He also made reference to the topic of the day, the restoration and embellishment of our oft- besieged, city, gracefully attributing honour where it was due, first and foremost to His Excellency the Governor-General, Earl of Dufferin, at whose instigation the plans had been prepared; secondly, to His Worship the Mayor, Owen Murphy, Esq., (who was present), for his untiring exertions and valuable assistance in developing, maturing and preparing the way for an early completion of said designs, which are to make Quebec a splendid architectural example of the deformed, transformed; thirdly, to the hearty co-operation of the public, aided in their views by the enterprise of the proprietor of the Morning Chronicle, who had prepared the splendid illustrations of these improvements, thereby reflecting infinite credit upon himself. After a few other remarks the ladies and gentlemen were invited to inspect the library, which for the rest of the evening was the centre of attraction. The coup d'oeil, when once one had fairly entered into this beautifully designed, permanent focus of intellectual wealth, around whose walls were ranged the imperishable memorials of nearly all of man's genius that has been thought worthy of preservation, was striking and memorable. As in the lecture room, those emblems, which are our symbolical as well as actual rallying points in all times of trouble or war, draped and covered the book shelves which contain the essence of almost all that human intelligence, human thought, human wit, man's invention and ingenuity has as yet brought to light. Here, historian and poet, geographer and engineer, humorist and preacher, dramatist and theologian, are congregated, serving in the one great cause of public instruction and the expansion of the limitless ramifications which exist in the ever growing tree of knowledge. The student and litérateur, the bibliophile and dilletante novel reader, the most frequent visitors here last night were replaced by groups of fair women and patriotic men assembled to commemorate an event which had a marked effect upon the history of this continent in this nineteenth century, which will expire a few hours after these lines meet the reader's eyes. In lieu of study and thought, the attention of the throng was attracted to the splendid stand of arms reaching from floor to ceiling, and which was as it were defended by the Dominion standard that fell in long festoons behind. In the centre of a diamond-shaped figure, made up of scores of sabres pointing inwards, was a large glittering star of silvery steel bayonets. In chronological order were pink and gilt tablets, containing each one the names of the Lieutenant-Governors of Canada, commencing with Carleton, in 1775, and proceeding through the noble list, which includes Haldimand, Dorchester, Dalhousie, Gosford, Colborne, Durham, Sydenham, Bagot, Cathcart, Elgin, Head, Monk, Lisgar, down to the present glorious epoch, when this prosperous country is vice-regally and right royally presided over by Lord Dufferin, in the year of grace, 1875—on the opposite side of the room, under a similar spiky coronet of bristling steel, was hung the sword of the dead and vanquished, but honoured and revered hero, the trusty blade which only left Montgomery's hands, when in his death- throes he 'like a soldier fell,' and the pitiless snow became his winding-sheet. On a table below this interesting and valuable historic relic, now in possession, as an heirloom, of J. Thompson Harrower, Esq., of this city, was exhibited the full uniform of an artillery officer of the year 1775. Several quaint old sketches and paintings were placed around the Library, which, with the Museum, was converted for the time into an extempore conversazione hall, and while the melodies of the 'B' Battery band were wafted hither and thither through the building, the dames and cavaliers gossiped pleasantly over their tea or coffee and delicacies provided by the members for the guests, and declared, with much show of reason, that the Literary and Historical Society's centennial entertainment was a red-letter day in the annals of that learned and well-deserving body."

THE JESUITS' CHURCH.

This little church, of which the corner stone was laid by the Marquis de Tracy, "Lieutenant du Roi, dans toutes ses possessions Françaises en Amérique," on 31st May, 1666, existed until 1807. "It is built," says Kalm, "in the form of a cross. It has a round steeple, and is the only church that has a clock." The oldest inhabitant can yet recall, from memory, the spot where it stood, even if we had not the excellent drawing made of it with a half dozen of other Quebec views, by an officer in Wolfe's fleet, Captain Richard Short. It stood on the site recently occupied by the shambles, in the Upper Town, facing the Russell House. Captain Short's pencil bears again testimony to the exactitude, even in minute things, of Kalm's descriptions: his Quebec horses, harnessed one before the other to carts. You see in front of the church, in Captain Short's sketch, three good sized horses, harnessed one before the other, drawing a heavily laden two-wheeled cart. The church was also used until 1807 as a place of worship for Protestants. Be careful not to confound the Jesuits' Church with the small chapel in the interior of their college (the old Jesuit Barracks) contiguous thereto. This latter chapel had been commenced on the 11th July, 1650. The Seminary Chapel and Ursulines Church, after the destruction by shot and shell, in 1759, of the large Roman Catholic Cathedral, were used for a time as parish churches. From beneath the chief altar of the Jesuits' Church was removed, on the 14th May, 1807, the small leaden box containing the heart of the founder of the Ursulines' Convent, Madame de la Peltrie, previously deposited there in accordance with the terms of her last will.

You can see that the pick-axe and mattock of the "bande noire" who robbed our city walls of their stones, and demolished the Jesuits' College and city gates, were busily employed long before 1871.

THE JESUITS' BARRACKS.

There are few, we will venture to say, who, in their daily walk up or down Fabrique Street, do not miss this hoary and familiar land mark, the Jesuits' College. When its removal was recently decreed, for a long time it resisted the united assaults of hammer and pick-axe, and yielded, finally, to the terrific power of dynamite alone.

The Jesuits' College, older than Harvard College, at Boston, takes one back to the dawn of Canadian history. Concerning the venerable institution, we translate the following from the French of Mr. T. B. Bédard. It appeared originally in the Journal de Quebec:—

"The recent discovery of human bones at the Jesuit Barracks has excited the curiosity of the public in general, and especially of antiquarians and all interested in historical research. Naturally, the question presents itself—who were the individuals interred where these bones were found, and what was this place of sepulture? An attentive study of the subject leads me to believe that the remains of the three skeletons discovered, with two skulls only, are those of Brother Jean Liégeois, Père du Quen, and Père Francois du Peron, deceased at Chambly, and whose mortal remains were sent to Quebec for interment. The spot where the bones were found must have been the site of the chapel built at the same time as the other portions of the Jesuits' College. But inasmuch as the demolition of this more than venerable edifice approaches completion, a sketch of the history of its construction may not be amiss.

"Let us preface by saying, with the learned Abbés Laverdière and Casgrain, that the residence or the Convent of Notre Dame de la Recouvrance, burnt together with the chapel of the same name in 1640, should not be confounded with the College (turned later on into barracks), the foundations of which were not laid until several years afterwards. The Chapel of Notre Dame de la Recouvrance and the Jesuits' house attached thereto, were situated upon the ground upon which the Anglican Cathedral now stands. In the conflagration of 1640, chapel and residence were destroyed; the registers of Civil Status burnt, and the Jesuits lost all their effects. 'We had gathered together in that house,' writes Father Lejeune, 'as in a little store, all the maintenance and support of our other residences and of our missions. Linen, clothing, and all the other necessaries for twenty- seven persons whom we had among the Hurons, were all ready to be conveyed by water into that distant country.' After this disaster, the Jesuits were sheltered for some time at the Hôtel Dieu. In 1637 the Fathers of the Company of Jesus in Canada set forth to the Company of New France that they wished to build a college and a seminary for the instruction of Indian youths, the Hurons dwelling 200 leagues from Quebec having sent them six, with the promise of a larger number, and also for the education of the country, and that, for this purpose, they sought a grant of land. The Company of New France awarded them twelve acres of ground in Quebec to build a seminary, church, residence, &c. This grant was made at a meeting of the Directors of the Company, at the hôtel of the celebrated Fouquet, on the 18th March, 1637. It was not, however, until the spring of 1647 that the work of digging the foundations of the College was begun—the first stone being laid on the 12th June. 'The same day,' says the Journal des Jésuites, 'was laid the first stone of the foundations of the offices of the main-building of the Quebec house. In 1648, we completed the half of the large main-building, in 1649, our building was completed as regards the exterior masonry and the roof; but the interior had not yet been touched.' In July, 1650, the foundations of the chapel were commenced, and on the 18th October, 1651, it was sufficiently advanced to allow the pupils of the college to receive therein Governor de Lauzon. 'The scholars,' says again the Journal des Jésuites, 'received Monsieur the Governor in our new chapel, latinâ oratione et versibus gallicis, &c., &c. The Indians (scholars) danced, when mass was first celebrated in the chapel.' On the 29th May, 1655, a great misfortune befell the good Fathers. The brother known as Jean Liégeois was treacherously assassinated. He was their business man; several times he had crossed over from Canada to France in their interests; he was also their architect, and had superintended the building of the residences at their various missions, as well as the erection of the college. On the day in question, while engaged in the fields near Sillery, seven or eight Agniers (Iroquois) suddenly surrounded him, captured him without resistance, and, put a bullet through his heart, and, adds the Journal des Jésuites, one of them scalped him, while another chopped off his head, which they loft upon the spot. On the following day the Algonquins found his body and brought it to Sillery, whence it was conveyed in a boat to Quebec, where it was exposed in the chapel, and, on the 31st May, after the usual offices, 'it was interred at the lower end of the chapel; that is to say, in one of the two sides where the altar of the Congregation des Messieurs is now located.' To understand these last words, it is necessary to explain that nearly two years later, on the 14th February, 1657, Father Poncet founded this congregation; and it was M. de Lauzon-Charny, Master of the Woods and Forests of New France, son of Governor de Lauzon, who was elected Prefect of the first members of the body to the number of twelve. This same M. de Charny had married the daughter of M. Giffard, the first Seigneur of Beauport; but his wife dying two years after that marriage, M. de Charny passed over to France, where he entered holy orders, subsequently returning to Canada with Mgr. de Laval, whose grand vicar he became, as well as the first ecclesiastical dignitary, inasmuch as he replaced him at the Conseil Souverain at the period of the difficulties between the Bishop of Petrea and Governor de Mesy.

"But to return to the interments in the Jesuits' Chapel. The next which took place was that of Father de Quen, who died on the 8th October, 1659, of contagious fever brought into the colony by vessels from beyond the seas. It was he, who, in 1647, discovered Lake St. John, and, in 1653, celebrated the Mass at the Hôtel Dieu, when the Sister Marie de L'Incarnation embraced the religious profession. Father de Quen was buried on the morning of the 9th praesente corpore, dictae duae missae privatae, in summo altari, dum diceretur officium. He was 59 years of age. The Journal des Jésuites does not say that he was interred in the chapel, but it is easy to infer the fact from the two private masses said in presence of the body, and also because the entry of his burial does not appear in the parish register. Moreover, it is also the opinion of Rev. Messrs. Laverdière and Casgrain, as published in the Journal des Jésuites. On the 15th November, 1665, arrived at Quebec, coming from the Richelieu River, a vessel bringing the body of Father François du Peron, who died on the 10th at Fort St. Louis (Chambly). The body was exposed in the Chapel of the Congregation, and 'on the 16th, after the service at which the Marquis de Tracy assisted, it was interred in the vault of the chapel towards the confessional on the side of the street,' and Father le Mercier, who wrote the foregoing, adds that 'there remains room only for another body.'

"From the preceding, it appears that three interments took place in the Jesuits' Chapel (the only ones mentioned in the Journal des Jésuites), and it is probable that the place remaining for only one more body was never filled. The remains of three bodies having been found, it seems to me therefore reasonable to conclude that they are those of Brother Liégeois and Fathers de Quen and du Peron. It is true only two skulls have been recovered, but it must be remembered that Brother Liégeois had his head chopped off and left upon the spot, as remarks the text, so that it is easy to conjecture that the Iroquois dragged his body further off, when it was found in a headless condition and thus buried. With respect to the site of the chapel, the text already cited relative to Father du Peron indicates sufficiently that it was alongside the street; and a reference to the map of Quebec in 1660 shows in fact the street skirting the Jesuits' property as it does to-day. Further, the excavations which, at the request of Père Sachez, Dr. Larue and others, Hon. Mr. Joly, with a good will which cannot be too highly praised, has ordered to be made, have already laid bare the foundations of a well outlined building upon the very site where tradition locates the chapel and where the bones have been found.

"As it was stated at the time of the finding of the skeletons that one of them was supposed to be that of a nun of the Hôtel Dieu, Mr. Bédard applied to the authorities of that institution for information on the subject and received an answer from the records which conclusively proves that the nun in question was buried in the vault of the Jesuits' Church and not in their Chapel."

Though a considerable sum had been granted to foster Jesuit establishments at Quebec by a young French nobleman, René de Rohault, son of the Marquis de Gamache, as early as 1626, it was on the 18th March, 1637, only, that the ground to build on, "twelve arpents of land, in the vicinity of Fort St. Louis" were granted to the Jesuit Fathers. In the early times, we find this famous seat of learning playing a prominent part in all public pageants; its annual examinations and distribution of prizes called together the élite of Quebec society. The leading pupils had, in poetry and in verse, congratulated Governor d'Argenson on his arrival in 1658. On the 2nd July, 1666, a public examination on logic brought out, with great advantage, two most promising youths, the famous Louis Jolliet, who later on joined Father Marquette in his discovery of the Mississippi, and a Three Rivers youth, Pierre de Francheville, who intended to enter Holy Orders. The learned Intendant Talon was an examiner; he was remarked for the erudition his Latin questions displayed. Memory likes to revert to the times when the illustrious Bossuet was undergoing his Latin examinations at Navarre, with the Great Condé as his examiner; France's first sacred orator confronted by her most illustrious general.

How many thrilling memories were recalled by this grim old structure? "Under its venerable roof, oft had met the pioneer missionaries of New France, the band of martyrs, the geographers, discoverers, savants and historians of this learned order: Dolbeau, de Quen, Druilletes, Daniel, de la Brosse, de Crepieul, de Carheil, Bréboeuf, Lallemant, Jogues, de Noue, Raimbeault, Albanel, Chaumonot, Dablon, Ménard, LeJeune, Massé, Vimont, Ragueneau, Charlevoix, [58] and crowds of others." Here they assembled to receive from the General of the Jesuits their orders, to compare notes, mayhap to discuss the news of the death or of the success of some of their indefatigable explorers of the great West; how the "good word" had been fearlessly carried to the distant shores of Lake Huron, to the bayous and perfumed groves of Florida, or to the trackless and frozen regions of Hudson's Bay.

Later on, when France had suppressed the order of the Jesuits, and when her lily banner had disappeared from our midst, the College and its grounds were appropriated to other uses—alas! less congenial.

The roll of the English drum and the sharp "word of command" of a British adjutant or of his drill sergeant, for a century or more, resounded in the halls, in which Latin orisons were formerly sung; and in the classic grounds and grassy court, [59] canopied by those stately oaks and elms, which our sires yet remember, to which the good Fathers retreated in sweet seclusion, to "say" their Breviaries and tell their beads, might have been heard the coarse joke of the guard room and coarser oath of the trooper.

It had been claimed as a "magazine for the army contractor's provisions on 14th November, 1760." On the 4th June, 1765, His Excellency General James Murray had it surveyed and appropriated for quarters and barracks for the troops, excepting some apartments. The court and garden was used as a drill and parade ground until the departure of Albion's soldiers. Here was read on the 14th November, 1843, by Major-General Sir Jas. Hope's direction, the order of the day, at the morning parade, congratulating Major Bennet and the brave men of the 1st Royals, whom he was escorting to England in the ill-fated transport "Premier," on the discipline and good conduct manifested by them during the incredible perils they had escaped at Cape Chatte when the Premier was stranded.

How singular, how sad to think that this loved, this glorious relic of the French régime, entire even to the Jesuit College arms, carved in stone over its chief entrance, should have remained sacred and intact during the century of occupation by English soldiery—and that its destruction should have been decreed so soon as the British legions, by their departure, in 1871, had virtually handed it over to the French Province of Quebec?

The discovery of the 28th August, 1878, of human remains beneath the floor of this building—presumed to be those of some of the early missionaries— induced the authorities to institute a careful search during its demolition. These bones and others exhumed on the 31st August, and on the 1st and 9th September, 1878, were pronounced by two members of the Faculty, Drs. Hubert Larue and Chas. E. Lemieux, both Professors of the Laval University, (who signed a certificate to that effect) to be the remains of three [60] persons of the male sex and of three [61] persons of the female sex. Some silver and copper coins were also found, which with these mouldering remains of humanity, were deposited under lock and key in a wooden box; and in September, 1878, the whole was placed in a small but substantial stone structure, in the court of the Jesuit Barracks, known as the "Regimental Magazine," pending their delivery for permanent disposal to Rev. Père Sachez, Superior of the Jesuits Order in Quebec.

In May, 1879, on opening this magazine, it was found that the venerable bones, box and all had disappeared, the staple of the padlock on the door having been forced. By whom and for what purpose, the robbery?

THE RÉCOLLET CONVENT.

Let us walk on, and view with the Professor's eyes the adjoining public edifice in 1749, the Récollet Convent, "a spacious building," says Kalm, "two story high, with a large orchard and kitchen garden." It stood apparently on the south-eastern extremity of the area, on which the Anglican Cathedral was built in 1804, across what is now the southern prolongation of Treasury Street; it is said its eastern end occupied a portion of the site now occupied by the old Place d'Armes—now the Ring.

Its church or chapel was, on 6th September, 1796, destroyed by fire; two eye-witnesses of the conflagration, Philippe Aubert DeGaspé and Deputy- Commissary-General James Thompson, the first in his Mémoires, the second in his unpublished Diary, have vividly portrayed the accident.

"At the date of the conflagration of the Récollets Church, 6th September, 1796, the bodies of those who had been interred there were taken up. The remains of persons of note, those among others of Count de Frontenac, were re-interred in the Cathedral (now the Basilica), it is said, under the floor of the Chapel N. D. of Pity. The leaden coffins, which, it appears, had been placed on iron bars in the Récollets Church, had been partially melted by the fire. In Count de Frontenac's coffin was found a small leaden box, which contained the heart of that Governor. According to a tradition, handed down by Frère Louis, the heart of Count de Frontenac was, after his death, sent to his widow in France. But the haughty Countess refused to receive it, saying that 'she did not want a dead heart, which when beating did not belong to her.' The casket containing the heart was sent back to Canada and replaced in the Count's coffin, where it was found after the fire." (Abbé H. R. Casgrain.)

The Church faced the Ring and the old Château; it formed part of the Récollet Convent, "a vast quadrangular building, with a court and well stocked orchard" on Garden Street; it was occasionally used as a state prison. The Huguenot and agitator, Pierre DuCalvet, [62] spent some dreary days in its cells in 1781-84; and during the summer of 1776, a young volunteer under Benedict Arnold, John Joseph Henry, (who lived to become a distinguished Pennsylvania Judge), was immured in this monastery, after his capture by the British, at the unsuccessful attack in Sault-au-Matelot Street, on the 31st December, 1775, as he graphically relates in his Memoirs. It was a monastery of the Order of Saint Francis. The Provincial, in 1793, a well-known, witty, jovial and eccentric personage, Father Félix DeBerey, had more than once dined and wined His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the father of our gracious Sovereign, when stationed in our garrison in 1791-4, with his regiment, the 7th Fusiliers.

The Récollet Church was also a sacred and last resting place for the illustrious dead. Of the six French Governors who expired at Quebec, four slept within its silent vaults, until the translation, in 1796, of their ashes to the vaults of the Basilica, viz: (1) Frontenac, (2) de Callières, (3) Vaudreuil, (4) de la Jonquière. [63] Governor de Mesy had been buried in the Hôtel-Dieu Cemetery, and the first Governor, de Champlain, it is generally believed, was interred near the Château Saint Louis, in a "sépulchre particulier," near the spot now surmounted by his bust, on which, in 1871, was erected the new Post Office.

On the south-west side of the Château, on the site where stands M. A. Berthelot's old dwelling on St. Louis Street, now owned by James Dunbar, Esq., Q.C., could be seen a building devoted to the administration of Justice, La Sénéchaussée (Séneschal's Jurisdiction), and which bore the name of "The Palace." It was doubtless there that, in 1664, the Supreme Council held its sessions. In 1665 it was assigned to the Marquis de Tracy, for a residence whilst in the colony. From the Place d'Armes, the higher road (Grande Allée) took its departure and led to Cap Rouge. On the right and left of this road, were several small lots of land given to certain persons for the purpose of being built upon. The Indian Fort was that entrenchment of which we have spoken, which served as a last hiding place to the sad remains of the once powerful Huron nation, forming in all eighty four souls, in the year 1665. It had continued to be occupied by them up to the peace with the Iroquois. After the arrival of the troops, they took their departure in order to devote themselves to the cultivation of the lands.

Besides the buildings of the Reverend Jesuit Fathers, those of the Ursulines (nuns), and those of the Hospital (Hôtel Dieu), in the Upper Town, could be seen in a house situated behind the altar part of the Parish Church, where dwelt Monseigneur de Laval. It was, probably, what he called his Seminary, and where he caused some young men to be educated, destined afterwards for the priesthood.

It was at the Seminary the worthy prelate resided with his priests, to the number of eight, which, at that period, comprised all the secular clergy of Quebec. There, also, was the Church of Notre Dame, in the form of a Latin cross. [64]

Couillard Street calls up one of the most important personages of the era of Champlain, Guillaume Couillard, the ancestor of Madame Alexandre de Léry née Couillard. It would fill a volume to retrace the historical incidents which attach themselves to "La Grande Place du Fort," which in the early part of the century was known as the "Grand Parade" before the Castle, and is now called the Ring. We have pointed out a goodly number in the first pages (10-16) of the "Album du Touriste." To what we have already said we shall add the following details:

THE UNION HOTEL.

It would appear that the site upon which the Union Hotel was built [65] (1805), and where previously stood the dwelling of Dr. Longmore, Staff Medical Officer, now occupied by the offices of the Journal de Quebec, &c., was owned by Governor D'Ailleboust, about the year 1650. He had reserved to himself, on the 10th January, 1649, the strip of ground comprised between Fort and Treasury Streets on the one side, and the streets Buade and Ste. Anne on the other side. At the corner of Treasury and Buade Streets, on the west, Jean Côté possessed a piece of ground (emplacement) which he presented as a dowry in 1649, to his daughter Simonne, who married Pierre Soumandre.

The grounds of the Archbishop's Palace formed part of the field possessed by Couillard, whose house stood in the now existing garden of the Seminary, opposite the gate which faces the principal alley, the foundations of which were discovered and brought to light by the Abbé Laverdière in 1866. The Union Hotel was for years the meeting place of our festive ancestors, when the assembly balls brought together the Saxon and the Gaul; it also recalls warlike memories of 1812.

THE AMERICAN PRISONERS.

In looking over old fyles of our city journals, we find in the Quebec
Mercury of 15th September, 1812, the following item:

"On Friday, arrived here the detained prisoners taken with Gen. Hull, at Detroit. The non-commissioned officers and privates immediately embarked on board of transports in the harbour, which are to serve as their prison. The commissioned officers were liberated on their parole. They passed Saturday morning at the Union Hotel, where they were the gazing-stock of the multitude, whilst they, no way abashed, presented a bold front to the public stare, puffed the smoke of their cigars into the faces of such as approached too near. About two o'clock they set off in a stage, with four horses, for Charlesbourg, the destined place of their residence."

The Union Hotel here mentioned is the identical building erected for a hotel by a company in 1805, and now owned by the Journal de Quebec, facing the ring.

Were these prisoners located at Charlesbourg proper, or at that locality facing Quebec, in Beauport, called Le Canardière, in Judge de Bonne's former stately old mansion, on which the eastern and detached wing of the Beauport Lunatic Asylum now stands?

Tradition has ever pointed to this building as that which sheltered the disconsolate American warriors in 1812, with the adjoining rivulet, Ruisseau de l'Ours, as the boundary to the east which their parole precluded their crossing.

The result of the American defeat at Detroit had been important—"one general officer (Wadsworth), two lieutenant-colonels, five majors, a multitude of captains and subalterns, with nine hundred men, one field- piece and a stand of colors, were the fruits of the victory, the enemy having lost in killed, wounded, missing and prisoners, upwards of fifteen hundred." (Christie's History.)

Amongst the American prisoners sent down to Quebec was the celebrated General Winfield Scott, who lived to cull laurels in the Mexican war. He was then Col. Scott, and there is yet (1878) living in Quebec an old resident, R. Urquhart, who well remembers, when a boy, seeing the "tall and stern American Colonel." He was six feet five inches in height. (Lossing, p. 408.)

Of these prisoners taken at Detroit, twenty-three had been recognized as British born and deserters from the English army. they were sent to England for trial. It is yet possible that some of the veterans of 1812, by their diaries or other sources of information, may tell us who were the Charlesbourg or Beauport captives in 1812. They had not been under restraint much more than a week, when, by the following advertisement in the Quebec Mercury, dated 29th September, we find the British Government attending to their comforts with a truly maternal foresight:—

Commissary General's Office,

QUEBEC, 28th Sept., 1812

"Wanted for the American prisoners of war, comfortable warm clothing,
consisting of the following articles:

Jackets,
Shirts,
Trowsers,
Stockings,
Moccassins or Shoes.
Also 2000 pounds of soap."

From which it is clear John Bull intended his American cousins should not only be kept warm, but suitably scrubbed as well. Two thousand lbs. of soap foreshadowed a fabulous amount of scrubbing. Colonel Scott and friends were evidently "well off for soap."

Colonel Coffin, of Ottawa, the annalist of the War of 1812, in reply to a query of mine, writes me:

"Scott remained in Canada from the date of his surrender, 23d October, 1812, to the period of his departure from Quebec, say May, 1813. But he was on parole the whole time, and from Quebec, as given in his life by Mansfield, p. 55, he went in a cartel to Boston, and soon after was exchanged. Under these circumstances, I do not think it likely that he would have been escorted militarily in custody anywhere. Winder may have been also taken to Quebec, or he may have been exchanged on the Western frontier. Armstrong's 'War of 1812' will probably give the details."

The Quebec Mercury, of 27th October, 1812, contains the following:

"The prisoners taken at Detroit and brought down to Quebec are on the point of embarking for Boston for the purpose of being exchanged. Five cannon are now lying in the Château Court taken at Detroit."

In retaliation for the twenty-three American prisoners sent for trial to England, as deserters from the British army, the American Government had ordered that forty-six British prisoners of war should be detained in close confinement.

"In consequence of this," says Christie, "the Governor ordered all the American officers, prisoners of war, without exception of rank, to be immediately placed into close confinement as hostages, until the number of forty-six were completed over and above those already in confinement. In pursuance of this order, Generals Winder, Chandler and Winchester were conveyed from their quarters in the country at Beauport to a private house in Quebec, where their confinement was rendered as little inconvenient as their situation could admit of."

They were exchanged in April, 1814, against British officers,
prisoners of war in the States.

In connection with General Scott's captivity at Quebec, Lossing relates a little incident, which redounds to his credit:—

"When the prisoners were about to sail from Quebec, a party came on board the vessel, mustered the captives and commenced separating from the rest those who, by their accent, were found to be Irishmen. These they intended to send to England for trial as traitors in a frigate lying near, in accordance with the doctrine that a British subject cannot expatriate himself. Scott, who was below, hearing a tumult on deck, went up. He was soon informed of the cause, and at once entered a vehement protest against the proceedings. He commanded his soldiers to be absolutely silent, that their accent might not betray them. He was repeatedly ordered to go below, and as repeatedly refused. The soldiers obeyed him. Twenty-three had been already detected as Irishmen, but not another one became a victim. The twenty-three were taken on board the frigate in irons. Scott boldly assured them that if the British Government dared to injure a hair of their head, his own Government would fully avenge the outrage. He at the same time as boldly defied the menacing officers, and comforted the manacled prisoners in every way. Scott was exchanged in January, 1813, and at once sent a full report of this affair to the Secretary of War. He hastened to Washington in person, and pressed the subject upon the attention of Congress. Fortunately, the President never had occasion to exercise this retaliation, the British Government having abstained from carrying out in practice, in the case of the American prisoners, its cherished doctrine of perpetual allegiance.

"The final result of Scott's humane and courageous conduct in this matter was very gratifying to himself. Almost three years after the event at Quebec, he was greeted by loud huzzahs as he was passing a wharf on the East River side of New York city. It came from a group of Irishmen, who had just landed from an emigrant ship. There were twenty-one out of the twenty-three prisoners for whom he had cared so tenderly. They had just returned from a long confinement in English prisons. They recognized their benefactor, and, says Scott's biographer, "nearly crushed him by their warm-hearted embraces." (Lossing's Field Book, p. 409.)

Some years back a discussion took place in the columns of the Morning Chronicle, of Quebec, as to the names of the volunteers of Bell's Cavalry who had escorted the U. S. prisoners of war in 1812 from Beauport to Quebec. The following extract from our diary throws some light on this subject:

THE LAST SURVIVORS OF BELL'S CAVALRY IN 1812.

"Among more than one strange meeting, which that welcome haven of the wearied wayfarer, the way-side inn, has brought me, in course of many peregrinations through the length and breadth of the Province of Quebec, none can I recall less anticipated, than the one which happened to me this 22nd March, 1881. I reached that night at 10.30, direct from the Kennebec Railway, the parlor of Monsieur Lessard's Temperance Hotel at St. Joseph, Beauce. (Such the euphonious name the Licence Act awards to these fallacious emblems of comfort or good cheer). After a lengthy interview, I next day parted, possibly for ever, from an old and withered sabreur of 1812, the last survivor, I think, of that dashing volunteer cavalry corps, raised by Capt. the Hon. Matthew Bell at Quebec in 1812.

I had the rare luck of having from the very lips of this octogenarian, an account of the share he had in conducting as one of the cavalry detachment detailed to escort Colonel Winfield Scott and brother officers from Beauport, where they were confined as prisoners on parole, to the district prison in St. Stanislas street (the Morrin College) from whence the "big" Colonel and his comrades were taken and lodged in Colonel Coffin's house in St. Louis street.

How different the careers! Scott in time became the hero of the war with Mexico, and the dashing cavalry corporal who escorted him, aged now 89, after 30 years tenure of office, still holds the position of village Postmaster, in the township of Broughton, Beauce. Among the incidents of which my ancient acquaintance seems proud, is that of his having played at cards with General Scott and his captive comrades.

"Charles Hy. J. Hall," (such his clear and well written autograph authenticating the memorandum I drew up for him) a roystering militaire and bon vivant, in our good city, seventy years ago, presents in his person a rare instance of mental and physical faculties well preserved until the end—memory, sight, mind, appetite, all unimpaired.

I was so interested when he informed me that he had been one of Col. Bell's cavalry, (I felt convinced that, of all the members of this dashing corps, he was the last survivor,) that I questioned him very closely, and cross-examined him on such matters of detail, which an eye-witness alone could know. Mr. Hall, the son of the late Wm. Hall, of Fabrique street, Quebec, is connected with several of our most noted families. His father came to Canada about 1783, from the adjoining provinces,—a United Empire Loyalist, and became wealthy. Subjoined will be found a short statement taken down as it fell from the lips of my new acquaintance, and authenticated by his signature. Mr. Chas. Hall is Postmaster of Broughton, County of Beauce."—(Diary of J. M. LeMoine.)

* * * * *

"I am now 89 years of age. My father, the late Wm. Hall, a well- to-do Quebecer, whose partner in business I subsequently was, lived at what I should call No. 1 Fabrique street (the house lately vacated by Behan Bros). I was born in a house in St. John street. I loved to roam—have travelled the world over and received some hard knocks in my day. As to that part of my career, which seems particularly to interest you—the war of 1812—I regret I cannot tell you as much as you wish to know. In 1812 I joined Capt. the Hon. Matthew Bell's Volunteer Cavalry; we numbered between 90 to 100 men. Our uniform was blue coat, red collar,—silver braid; arms, a sabre and holster pistols. As volunteers every man furnished his own horse, suits, etc. My horse, which cost me thirty guineas, I refused sixty for from Col. McNeil; our mounts were of Canadian, American, and English pedigree.

We were commanded by Col. Bell; Hon Wm. Sheppard (late of Woodfield), was our Major, Mr. Hale, our Captain, Wm. Henderson, our Lieutenant. I cannot say, in reply to your question, whether the late Hammond Gowan was our Cornet. Our house stood next to that where General Brock had lived, in Fabrique street. I was, in 1812, one of the escort who took General Winfield Scott, Col. Winder,——from Beauport; I remember well the big Col. Scott, as I played cards with the American officers who were, on their parole, quartered in Judge DeBonne's house, on the site of which the east wing of the Lunatic Asylum has since been erected. I formed part of the escort who conducted the American officers to the Quebec jail, in St. Stanislas street, previous to their being located in a St. Louis street house. During the war, under Sir George Prevost, I formed, in March, part of the detachment of cavalry, sent with a company of the 103rd, to the parish of St. Joseph, Beauce, to arrest some militia men who had refused to enlist. The ice-bridge before Quebec, started a few minutes after our last horse had crossed.

CHAS. HY. J. HALL

St. Joseph, Beauce, 23rd March, 1881.

N B.—I can read yet without glasses; I reckon I am the last survivor of Bell's Cavalry.—Morning Chronicle, 28th April, 1881.

QUEBEC TROOP OF LIGHT CAVALRY.

Extract from a Troop Order Book of Captain Bell's Troop, dated Quebec, 1st March, 1813.

NOTES RESPECTING THE FORMATION OF THE TROOP.

[Furnished by Lt.-Col. Turnbull, Q.O.C.H.]

This Troop was first formed by Capt. Bell, under an order of H. E.
Sir G. Prevost, dated 22nd April, 1812, as a part of 3rd
Battalion, Quebec Militia.

22nd May, 1812.—William Sheppard and Hammond Gowan are appointed
Sergeants. Mr. Hale attached to the Troop as Cornet.

27th June.—Intelligence of the declaration of war reached Quebec. The gentlemen composing the Troop, to the number of 34, volunteered their services, to act when and where the Government thought proper.

27th July.—The Troop declared independent of the 3rd Battalion, Quebec Militia. In case of alarm, to assemble on their private parade, in front of the Castle, by order of General Glasgow.

October.—Mr. Hale appointed Lieutenant, and Mr. Sheppard, Cornet,
dated 24th April last.

19th December.—The Troop to be held in readiness to march on
active service early in the spring.

15th February, 1813.—Orders received to add 25 dismounted men to the Troop.

MUSTER ROLL.

QUEBEC LIGHT CAVALRY, BELL'S TROOP.

1st March, 1813.

Officers.
Captain (Commandant) Matthew Bell.
Lieutenant Edward Hale,
Cornet W. G Sheppard,
Quarter-Master Benjamin Racy, (from the Ste. Marie, Nouvelle
Beauce Battalion), attached to the Troop.

N.C. Officers
Sergeant Hammond Gowan, Corporal Charles Hall,
" Wm. Henderson, " Wm. Sheppard,
" Alex. Gowan, Acting " G. Wilson,
" James Heath, Acting Trumpeter Thos. Pearson.

Privates
On the full establishment, furnishing horse, clothing, &c.:—
*William Turner, John Stansfield, *James Capper,
*Wm. Thomas, James McCallum, Robert Page,
*John Patterson, John Connolly, John White,
William Price, Peter Burnet, William Hoogs,
John Dempster, *James Dick, J. G. Clapham,
*John Campbell, James Henderson, George Chapman,
Andrew Moire, George Cossar, *James Black,
James Oliver, *John McQuay, William Henderson,
John Racy, Archibald Campbell, *Amos Priest,
William Moore, James George, James McCallum,
*David Robertson, Webb Robinson, John McCallum,
James Whyte, Daniel Buckley, Frank Bell.

Dismounted Party.
Age. Ft. In.
James Winton . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5 10
*Frederick Petry . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 10
*George Burns . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 10
Henry Connolly . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5 10
*Francis Martineau . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Daniel Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
James Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 9
Frederick Wyse . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 9
John Menzies . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 5 9
David Flynn . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5 8-1/2
*William Graves . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 8
*Richard Burns. . . . . . . . . . . . 22 5 8
*James Loan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 5 7-1/2
Alexander Russell . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
*William Parker . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
*Charles Gethings . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 7
*Thomas Burney. . . . . . . . . . . . 21 5 7
John Chillas . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5 7
George C. Ross. . . . . . . . . . . . 17 5 8
*Godfroi Langlois . . . . . . . . . . 20 5 10
George Patterson. . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
Peter Legget. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
J. Dion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
David Denny . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..
Wm. Hobb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..

[Note: * Reside in Upper Town.]

Troop Order, 1st March.—Foot drills on Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays in the Riding House at 12 o'clock till further orders.

8th March.—The Captain commanding desires that the following articles be provided as soon as possible by each person in the Troop, to enable him to comply with the General Orders of the Commander-in-Chief, dated 19th December last, viz: Helmet; blue cloth forage cap; black silk handkerchief or stock; dress jacket, undress jacket (plain), plain linen jacket (stable); a pair of brown linen trowsers; a pair of grey cloth overalls; a pair of grey cloth or stockinett pantaloons; a pair of half boots and spurs; two flannel shirts; two pair flannel drawers; three pairs of stockings; one pair of shoes; one razor; one knife; one brush; one curriecomb, brush and mane comb; one linen haversack; one linen nose-bag; one linen bag for necessaries.

The dismounted men may make their undress jacket of strong brown linen if they prefer it.

Quarter-Master Racy will shew patterns and give any information that may be required. The Captain wishes the different articles to be good and strong, but not of an expensive kind.

28th March.—A detachment was ordered on service to Ste. Marie Nouvelle Beauce and St. Joseph, returning on the 31st under the command of Lieutenant Hale, consisting of two officers, two sergeants, one corporal, 18 privates; total, 23.

At right angles from Buade Street, opposite the wall [66] which surrounds St. Joseph Cemetery, enclosed between the Basilica and the street, there exists, since the earliest times, a short, narrow street—more properly a lane—Treasury Street. The French know it as Rue du Trésor, because under French rule, the Government Office, where public monies were paid out, stood in the vicinity. Until the departure of the English garrison and removal of the Commissariat Staff, in 1871, Treasury Street was one of the avenues which led contractors and others to the Royal Commissariat Department, at the east end of St. Louis Street. Here, for years, were dealt out lavishly either the old French or Spanish piastres during the war of 1812-14, the proceeds of the army bills, and later on, English sovereigns, guineas and doubloons, &c. The Commissariat office was situate facing the Ring, and after the departure of the British troops, about 1871, was used as the office and dwelling of the Deputy Adjutant General of Militia. The lot, which, with the garden in rear, reaches to Mount Carmel Street, had been bought by the Ordnance from Mr. Peter Bréhault in the early part of the century.

Prince Edward had brought to Quebec from Gibraltar, in 1791, as his Secretary, Capt. John Hale, 2nd Queen's Regiment. Capt. Hale was the eldest son of Brevet Major John Hale, [67] of the 47th, who served under General Wolfe at Quebec. Major J. Hale subsequently became General Hale. Capt. John Hale, after stopping at Quebec with the Prince, subsequently returned to Halifax with him. He was afterwards appointed by the Imperial authorities Deputy Paymaster General to the Forces in Canada. He, it was, who owned the lot on which the Commissary-General's office stood. This occurred previous to 1812. He sold the property to Peter Bréhault, who had come out to Canada as an employé to John Muire, Esq. Mr. Bréhault resold it to the Imperial Government, the Paymaster's Office being merged into the Commissariat Office. The Ursuline nuns have named, after their patron Saint, Ste. Ursule, the first street to the west, which intersects at right angles, St. Louis and Ste. Anne streets. Ste. Ursule and Ste. Anne streets and environs seem to have been specially appropriated by the disciples of Hippocrates. Physicians [68] and surgeons there assuredly do congregate, viz.: Dr. James Sewell, his son, Dr. Colin Sewell, Drs. Landry, Lemieux, Simard, Belleau, Russell, Russell, Jr., Gale, Ross, Baillargeon, Roy, Fortier, LaRue, Parke, Rowand, Henchey, Vallée, Marsden, Jackson—distinguished physicians. Notwithstanding that it is the abode of so many eminent members of the Faculty, the locality is healthy; nay, conducive to longevity.

The streets Aylmer, Burton, Bagot, Craig, Carleton, Dorchester, Dalhousie, Haldimand, Hope, Metcalf, Murray, Prevost, Richmond, perpetuate the memory of thirteen English Governors, while four French Governors have left their names on as many thoroughfares—Buade, Champlain, d'Aillebout, Montmagny. Many of the luxurious dwellings on the Cape date back to 1840 or so; this now aristocratic neighborhood, after the conquest and until 1830, was occupied by carters, old French market gardeners and descendants of French artisans, &c.—such were the early tenants of Des Carrières, Mont Carmel, Ste. Geneviève, St. Denis, Des Grissons streets.—"Mais nous avons changé tout cela."

A few years since, the Town Council, on motion of Councillor Ernest Gagnon, whose name is identified with our popular songs, [69] disturbed the nomenclature of that part of D'Aiguillon street, extra muros, by substituting the name of "Charlevoix." To that section of St. Joseph street, intra muros, was conferred the name of our respected historian, F. X Garneau. [70] To St. François street, the name of the historian, Ferland, was awarded; the historian, Robert Christie, [71] has also his street. This met with general approval.

"On ascending," says Abbé Faillon, "from the Lower to the Upper Town by a tortuous road, contrived betwixt the rocks, and on the right hand side, we reach the Cemetery. [72] This road, which terminated at the Parish Church, [73] divided itself into two,—on one side it led to the Jesuits (Jesuits' College) and to the Hospital (Hôtel Dieu); and on the other, to the Indian Fort [74] and to the Castle of Saint Louis. The Castle and King's Fort, guarded by soldiers night and day, under the orders of the Governor, was of an irregular shape, flanked by bastions, fortified by pieces of artillery, and contained in its interior several suites of apartments separated one from the other. At the distance of about forty toises (240 feet) from the Castle was seen, on the south side, a small garden, fenced in, for the use of the Governor, and in front, towards the west, was the Place d'Armes (now the Ring), in the form of a trapezium."

St. John street, for years without a rival as chief commercial thoroughfare for retail trade in dry goods, sees its former busy aspect daily fleeting since the invasion of that bitter foe to wheeled vehicles— the street railway. Its glory is departing: the mercer's showy counter and shelves are gradually replaced by vegetable and fruit stores. Stately shops on Desfosses, Crown and Craig streets are rapidly diverting the Pactolus of the city custom northwards. In the dark ages of the Ancient Capital, when this lengthy, narrow lane was studded with one-story wooden or stone tenements, Old Sol occasionally loved to look down and gladden with his rays its miry footpaths. To our worthy grandfathers 'twas a favorite rendezvous—the via sacra—the Regent street—the Boulevard des Italiens—where the beau monde congregated at 4 P.M., sharp; where the merry jingle of the tandem grelots invaded the frosty air in January; where the freshest toilettes, the daintiest bonnets—those "ducks of bonnets" invented fifty years ago by Mrs. T—d—ensnared admirers; where marten or "silver fox" muffs of portentous size—all the rage then—kept warm and coursing the stream of life in tiny, taper hands, cold, alas! now in Death's pitiless grasp; where the old millionaire, George Pozer, chinked his English guineas or piled up in his desk his army bills. Alas! Jean Bourdon, the pioneer of our land surveyors, you, who, more than two centuries ago, left your name to this vaunted locality—your street as well as your name are getting to be things of the past! Shall we bid adieu to this oft travelled over thoroughfare without deigning a parting glance, as we saunter on, at that low old-fashioned house, No. 84, on the north side of the street, where, for a quarter of a century and more, Monsieur Charles Hamel's book and church ornament emporium held its own against all the other book stores? It is now occupied as a dwelling and a notarial office by an ex-Mayor and late member for the city, P. A. Tourangeau, Esq., N.P. Vividly, indeed, can we recall the busy aspect of its former counter, studded with gilt madonnas, rosaries, some in brass mountings, variegated Job beads for the million; others set in ebony and silver for rich dévotes, flanked with wax tapers, sparkling church ornaments, bronze crucifixes—backed with shelves of books bearing, some, the visa of Monseigneur de Tours—the latter for the faithful; others in an inner room, without the visa—these for city littérateurs; whilst in a shady corner-cupboard, imported to order—sometimes without order— stood a row of short-necked but robust bottles, labelled "Grande Chartreuse" and "Bénédictine," for the especial delectation of a few Quebec Brillat-Savarins—the gourmets!

Monsieur Hamel, a sly, courteous, devout old bachelor, had a honied word, a holy, upturned glance, a jaunty welcome for all and every one of his numerous "dévotes" or fashionable pratiques. A small fortune was the result of the attention to business, thrift and correct calculations of this pink of French politeness. Monsieur Chas. Hamel, honoured by his familiars with the sobriquet "Lily Hamel," possibly because his urbanity was more than masculine, in fact, quite lady-like—the crème de la crème of commercial suavity. This stand, frequented by the Quebec gentry from 1840 to 1865, had gradually become a favourite stopping place, a kind of half-way house, where many aged valetudinarians tarried a few minutes to gossip with friends equally aged, homeward bound, on bright winter afternoons, direct from their daily "constitutional" walk, as far as the turnpike on St. John's road. Professor Hubert Larue [75] will introduce us to some of the habitués of this little club, which he styles Le Club des Anciens, a venerable brotherhood uniting choice spirits among city littérateurs, antiquarians, superannuated Militia officers, retired merchants: Messrs. Henry Forsyth, Long John Fraser, Lieut.-Colonel Benjamin LeMoine, F. X. Garneau, G. B. Faribault, P. A. De Gaspé, Commissary-General Jas. Thompson, Major Lafleur, Chs. Pinguet, the valiant Captain of the City Watch in 1837. The junior members counted from fifty to sixty summers; their seniors had braved some sixty or seventy winters. After discussing the news of the day, local antiquities and improvements, there were certain topics, which possessed the secret of being to them eternally young, irresistibly attractive: the thrilling era of Colonel De Salaberry and General Sir Isaac Brock; the Canadian Voltigeurs, [76] the American War of 1812-14, where a few of these veterans had clanked their sabres and sported their epaulettes, &c. With the exception of an esteemed and aged Quebec merchant, Long John Fraser, all now sleep the long sleep, under the green sward and leafy shades of Mount Hermon or Belmont cemeteries, or in the moist vaults of some city monastery.

On revisiting lately these once famous haunts of our forefathers, the new proprietor, ex-Mayor Tourangeau, courteously exhibited to us the antiques of this heavy walled tenement, dating back possibly to the French régime, perhaps the second oldest house in St. John street. In a freshly painted room, on the first story, in the east end, hung two ancient oil paintings, executed years ago by a well-remembered artist, Jos. Legaré, for the owners, two octogenarian inmates—his friends, Messrs. Michel and Charles Jourdain, architects and builders. They were charged some seventy years ago with the construction of the District Court House (burnt in 1872) and City Jail (now the Morrin College.) Messrs. Jourdain had emigrated to Canada after the French Revolution of 1789. They had a holy horror of the guillotine, though, like others of the literati of Quebec in former days, they were well acquainted with the doctrines and works of Voltaire, Diderot, and d'Alembert. One of the Jourdains, judging from his portrait, must have been a shrewd, observant man. Later on, the old tenement had sheltered the librarian of the Legislative Council, Monsieur Jourdain—a son—quite a savant in his way, and whose remains were escorted to their last resting place by the élite of the Canadian population. It is a mistake to think that culture and education were unknown in those early times; in some instances the love of books prevailed to that degree that, in several French- Canadian families, manuscript copies then made at Quebec exist to this day, of the Latin and French classics from the difficulty of procuring books; there being little intercourse then with Paris book-stores, in fact, no importations of books. Among many quaint relics of the distant days of the Messrs. Jourdain and of their successor, Monsieur Audiverti dit Romain, we saw a most curiously inlaid Marqueterie table, dating, we might be tempted to assert, from the prehistoric era!

Innumerable are the quaint, pious or historical souvenirs, mantling like green and graceful ivy, the lofty, fortified area, which comprises the Upper Town of this "walled city of the North". An incident of our early times—the outraged Crucifix of the Hôtel Dieu Convent, [77] and the Military Warrant, appropriating to urgent military wants, the revered seat of learning, the Jesuits' College, naturally claim a place in these pages. The Morning Chronicle will furnish us condensed accounts, which we will try and complete:—

LE CRUCIFIX OUTRAGÉ.

"An interesting episode in the history of Canada during the last century attaches to a relic in the possession of the Reverend Ladies of the Hôtel Dieu, or, more properly, "the Hospital of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ," of which the following is a synopsis taken from l'Abbé H. G. Casgrain's history of the institution:—

"On the 5th October, 1742, it was made known that a soldier in the garrison in Montreal, named Havard de Beaufort, professed to be a sorcerer, and, in furtherance of his wicked pretensions, had profaned sacred objects. He had taken a crucifix, and having besmeared it with some inflammable substance—traces of which are still to be seen upon it—had exposed it to the flames, whilst he at the same time recited certain passages of the Holy Scripture. The sacrilege had taken place in the house of one Charles Robidoux, at Montreal. Public indignation at this profanation of the sacred symbol and of the Scripture was intense; the culprit was arrested, tried and convicted, and sentenced to make a public reparation, after which he was to serve three years in the galleys. To this end he was led by the public executioner, with a cord around his neck, bareheaded and barefooted, wearing only a long shirt, and having a placard on his breast and back on which was inscribed the legend "Desecrator of holy things" (Profanateur des choses saintes), in front of the parish church in Montreal, and being placed on his knees, he made the amende honorable to God, to the King and to Justice, and declared in a loud and intelligible voice that he had rashly and wickedly desecrated the sacred image of Jesus Christ, and had profaned the words of Holy Scripture. He was then brought to all the cross-roads of the town, where he was scourged by the public executioner, and afterwards lodged in prison to await the sailing of the vessel which was to convey him to France, where he was to undergo the remainder of his sentence. The Bishop of Quebec, (whose vast diocese then included all of North America) immediately wrote a letter to Montreal, inviting the people to make reparation by penances and public prayers for the outrage committed, and ordering a public procession from the parish church to that of Notre Dame de Bonsecours, where the veneration of the cross took place. He then obtained the crucifix from the magistrates, and forwarded it to the reverend ladies of the Hôtel Dieu in Quebec, accompanied by a letter in which he directed that it should be placed in their chapel, and that on a certain day the veneration of it should be made in reparation of the insult offered the Saviour of the world in his sacred image on the cross. The nuns placed it in a reliquary, and to this day it occupies a prominent position on the high altar. In virtue of a brief of His Holiness the Pope, dated the 15th December, 1782, a plenary indulgence was granted to any one who, having fulfilled the usual conditions, should visit the Hôtel Dieu chapel on the first Friday in March of each year. By an indult of the Supreme Pontiff, dated 21st March, 1802, this indulgence was transferred to the first Friday of October, when the veneration of the relic takes place annually.

The cross is of some sort of dark wood, about five or six inches long, bearing a brass figure of our Saviour, with the inscription I. N. R. I. (Jesus Nazarene Rex Judaeorum) overhead and the skull and cross-bones beneath. Attached to it is the certificate of authenticity and the seal of the Bishop, Monseigneur de Pontbriand. In accordance with this arrangement, public service was held in the chapel of the hospital yesterday. The crucifix, enclosed in a gorgeous reliquary and surrounded with a number of lighted tapers, flowers and other ornaments, was placed on one of the lateral altars. Solemn mass was sung at eight o'clock by the Rev. Mr. Rhéaume, of the Seminary, the musical portion being rendered in a most impressive manner by the reverend mothers, to organ accompaniment. In the afternoon, at two o'clock, solemn vespers were chanted by the community, after which an eloquent and impressive sermon was preached by Rev. Father Lepinto, S.J., followed by the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which was given, by Rev. Mr. Fraser, of the Seminary, who had previously read a solemn form of "Reparation" in the name of all present, and in which all joined. The Tantum Ergo and other hymns were sung by the nuns, and after the chanting of the CXVI. Psalm, the relic was venerated, each one devoutly kissing it, during which the choir of nuns sang the Crux fidelis. Altogether the ceremony was a very impressive one, as was evidenced by the solemn, subdued manner of the large congregation assembled."—(Morning Chronicle, 2nd Oct., 1880.)

THE JESUITS' BARRACKS.

"At the present moment, in 1871, when, it is said, the Jesuits' Barrack is on the eve of being returned to the Quebec authorities, our readers will no doubt be pleased to learn how and when this valuable property came into the possession of the Military Government. We are indebted to J. M. LeMoine, Esq., President of the Literary and Historical Society, for a copy of the ukase of Governor Murray converting the old College of the Jesuits, on the Upper Town Market Place, into a barrack, which it has remained ever since. It is extracted from some rare old manuscripts belonging to that institution. The orthographical mistakes exist in the original, and we have allowed them to reappear:—

By His Excellency the Hon. James Murray, Esq., Capt. General and
Governor-in-Chief of the Province of Quebec and the territories
thereupon depending in America, Vice-Admiral of the same, Major-
General of His Majesty's Forces, and Colonel Commandant of the 2nd
Battalion of the Royal American Regiment of Foot, &c., &c., &c.

To Captain James Mitchelson, Captain William Martin, Lieut. Smith,
Messieurs Amiot, Boisseau and Moore:

Whereas it appears to me that proper Quarters and Barracks are much wanted for the officers and troops in this garrison, and it being apprehended that the Jesuits' College may be fitted up for that purpose—You are hereby authorized and impowered to survey the same, calling to your assistance such number of tradesmen as you may judge necessary, in which survey, regard is to be had to a sufficient number of Fire Places and Chimneys, to ascertain with precision the number of officers and private soldiers the said College will contain, and to make an estimate of the expense that will attend the repairs thereof. And whereas the Contractors' provisions are at present lodged in the said college, other magazines should be found to lodge the same. You are therefore further impowered to inspect and survey that building known by the name of the Intendant's Palace, and to ascertain also the charges that will attend the fitting up the same to contain the quantity of six thousand barrels, reporting to me on the back hereof your proceedings upon the warrant, which shall be to you and every of you sufficient authority.

Given under my hand and seal at Quebec, this 4th day of June, 1765. (sd) JAS. MURRAY. By His Excellency's command. (Counters'd,) J. GOLDFRAP, D. Sectry.

General Arnold's soldiers having during the winter of 1775 established themselves in and near the French Intendant's Palace, facing the St. Charles, Governor Carleton decided to sacrifice the stately pile of buildings in order to dislodge the enemy. A lively fire was in consequence opened from the guns on the ramparts, near Palace Gate, and the magnificent structure was soon riddled with shot. It stood in rear of Vallière's furniture factory and Boswell's brewery. Thus was acquired the Jesuits' Barrack, and thus perished the Intendant's Palace."—(Chronicle, 27_th Dec._, 1871.)

D'Auteuil street, bounded to the west by an open space—the Esplanade— lined on one side by shade trees, on the other by the verdant slopes of the glacis and city walls, deserves a passing notice. Bouchette describes it thus:—"The Esplanade, between St. Louis and St. John's Gate, has a length of 273 yards, by an average breadth of 80, except at the Ste. Ursula bastion, where it is 120 yards. It is tolerably level, in some places presenting a surface of bare rock. This is the usual place of parade for the troops of the garrison, from whence every morning in summer the different guards of the town are mounted; in winter the Jesuits' Barracks drill ground is generally used for parades. The musters and annual reviews of the militia belonging to the city are held there. [78]

The Esplanade is still used as a parade ground, if not by our city militia by our provincial troops. Right well can we recall the manly form of the Commander of the "B" Battery, Lieut.-Colonel T. B. Strange, bestriding a noble charger, putting his splendid, though not numerous corps, through their drill on the Esplanade. We have also sometimes caught sight there of our gay Volunteers. Occasionally these grounds are used by the divers lacrosse clubs for their athletic games—the doyen of our city littérateurs, the Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, in a graphic portraiture of the "Quebec of the Past," has most feelingly retraced the vanished glories, the military pageants, the practical jokers, the City Watch, the social gatherings, which his youthful eyes witnessed of yore on the Esplanade and on Durham Terrace. We have attempted to render in English a striking chapter of this sparkling effusion:—

OLDEN TIMES IN THE ANCIENT CAPITAL.

"There is not only the quaint city of Champlain—of Montmagny—of Frontenac—of Bishop Laval—of Governor de Vaudreuil and Montcalm—of Lord Dorchester and Colonel Dambourges—that is rapidly fading away; there is not merely the grim fortress of the French régime, the city of early English rule, disappearing piecemeal in the dissolving shadows of the past. A much more modern town—newer even than that so graphically pictured by our old friend Monsieur de Gaspé—the Quebec of our boyhood—of our youth—the Quebec embalmed in the haunted chambers of memory prior to 1837—it also each day seems retreating— crumbling—evanescing.

Where are those dashing regiments which every Sunday at 4 p.m. (we were not such Puritans then as now) paraded in the open space facing the Esplanade walls, under the approving eye of the beauty and fashion of all Quebec, assembled from outside and from inside of the walls— the men proud of their bottle-green or dark-blue coats and white duck pants—all the vogue then—while the softer sex and juveniles were apparelled in the gayest of toilettes—brightest of colors—loudest of contrasts: white—pink—green! How densely packed, our Esplanade! Little boys and girls crowding in every corner of the lovely precipitous lawn which, amphitheatre-like, stretches down—a hanging garden of verdure and beauty. The splendid regimental bands of music, the gaudily uniformed staff officers curvetting on their chargers, with nodding plumes and heavy, glittering epaulettes (alas! the navy now seems to have monopolised the gold lace for their shoulder- straps), and those irresistible sappers with their bushy beards heading the pageant, and those incomparable drum-majors, who could fling high in the air their batons, and catch them so gracefully in their descent. How their glittering coats did enrapture the crowd! All these wondrous sights of our youth, where will we now find them?

The mounting guard, the Grand Rounds at noon, when one of the regimental bands (there were here nearly always two, and an honorable rivalry existed between them) struck up a martial strain, whilst every sentry in the city was relieved. What a treat this was to every one, without forgetting the Seminary Externes (pupils), with their blue coats and sashes of green or of variegated tints.

More than one of those lithesome youths came to grief for having rushed away from the Gradus ad Parnassum to those Elysian Fields, ostensibly to hear the band—possibly to cast a sly glance at "sweet sixteen" chatting with the Militaires off duty. Here, too, was the spot where amateurs came to hear new pieces of music—the latest from London. Durham Terrace was the favoured locality from whence the new waltz—the fashionable march—the latest opera—was launched into city existence; from thence it found its way to the salons of the wealthy: such the history of Di tanti palpiti and other sweet emanations of great masters.

Where, now, are those squads of jolly tars, in navy blue, irrepressible in their humors when on shore, far from the quarterdecks of the trim frigates anchored under Cape Diamond: upsetting the cake- stands, the spruce beer kegs—helping open-handed to the contents the saucy street urchins, or, handing round, amidst the startled wayfarers, pyramids of horse cakes, trays of barley-sugar and peppermints, like real princes dispensing the coin of the realm. Where are those noisy gangs of swaggering raftsmen—those voyageurs from the pays d'en haut, with their glittering costumes—hats festooned with red or blue ribbons, sashes of variegated colors, barred shirts— tightly wedged, three by three, in calèches, like Neapolitans— patrolling the streets—interlarding a French song occasionally with an oath, tolerably profane—at all times to be met, whether in the light of day or the still hours of night. No police in those halcyon days; but with the thickening shades of evening issued forth that venerable brotherhood, the City Watch.

The watch, did we say? Where are now these dreamy wanderers of the night, carolling forth, like the muezzin in Eastern cities, their hourly calls, "All's well!" "Fine night!" "Bad weather!" as the case might be—equally ready with their rattles to sound the dread alarm of fire, or with their long bâtons to capture belated midnight brawlers, that is, when they saw they had a good chance of escaping capture themselves. Their most formidable foes were not the thieves, but the gay Lotharios and high-fed swells of the time, returning from late dinners, and who made it a duty, nay, a crowning glory, to thrash the Watch! Where now are those practical jokers who made collections of door-knockers (the house-bell was not then known), exchanged sign- boards from shop-doors, played unconscionable tricks on the simple- minded peasants on market-days—surreptitiously crept in at suburban balls, in the guise of the evil one, and, by the alarm they at times created, unwittingly helped Monsieur le Curé to frown down upon these mundane junkettings.

One of these escapades is still remembered here. [79]

Four of these gentlemanly practical jokers, one night, habited in black like the Prince of Darkness, drove silently through the suburbs in a cariole drawn by two coal-black steeds, and meeting with a well-known citizen, overcome by drink, asleep in the snow, they silently but vigorously seized hold of him with an iron grip; a cahot and physical pain having restored him to consciousness, he devoutly crossed himself, and, presto! was hurled into another snow-drift. Next day all Quebec had heard in amazement how, when and where Beelzebub and his infernal crew had been seen careering in state after nightfall. Oh! the jolly days and gay nights of olden times!

But the past had other figures more deserving of our sympathy. The sober-sided sires of the frolicsome gentry just described: the respected tradesmen who had added dollar to dollar to build up an independence—whose savings their children were squandering so recklessly; those worthy citizens who had filled without stipend numerous civic offices, with a zeal, a whole-heartedness seldom met with in the present day—at once churchwardens, justices of the peace, city fathers, members of societies for the promotion of agriculture, of education, for the prevention of fires; who never sat up later than nine of the clock p.m., except on those nights when they went to the old Parliament Building to listen in awe to fiery Papineau or eloquent Bourdages thunder against the Bureaucracy; who subscribed and paid liberally towards every work of religion, of charity, of patriotism; who every Saturday glanced with trembling eye over the columns of the Official Gazette, to ascertain whether Government had not dismissed them from the Militia or Commission of the Peace, for having attended a public meeting, and having either proposed or seconded a motion backing up Papineau and censuring the Governor. Thrilling—jocund—simple war-like time of 1837, where art thou flown?"

The "sunny Esplanade," the "Club," the "Platform," in those days "rather small," the "Rink," "Montmorency Falls," "Lake Charles," the "Citadel" and its "hog's-back," it would appear, inspired the bard of the 25th King's Own Borderers—for years forming part of our garrison—on this favourite regiment embarking for England, to waft to the old Rock the following poetic tribute.

FAREWELL TO QUEBEC.

Adieu, ye joys of fair Quebec!
We've got what's coarsely termed the sack.
Adieu, kind homes that we have entered;
What hopes and joys are around ye centered!
Adieu, ye flights of Lower Town stairs!
To mount you often, no one cares.
Adieu, that Club, with cook whose skill
Makes none begrudge his dinner bill.
Adieu, O sunny Esplanade!
You suit us loungers to a shade.
Adieu, thou Platform, rather small,
For upper-ten, the band and all.
And Music Hall! adieu to thee!
Ne'er kinder audiences we'll see;
There on each 'Stadacona' night,
'Ye antient citie' proves its right
To boast of beauty, whose fair fame,
To us at Malta even came.
Adieu, O Rink, and 'thrilling steel,'
Another sort of thrill we feel,
As eye entranced, those forms we follow,
And see the Graces beaten hollow.
Adieu, John's Gate! your mud and mire
Must end in time, as does each fire!
Adieu, that pleasant four-mile round,
By bilious subs so useful found.
Adieu, Cathedral! and that choir,
All eye and ear could well desire.
Adieu, that service—half-past three
And chance walks after, home to tea.
And 'city fathers,' too, adieu!
Sorry we shan't know more of you.
Adieu, your daughters passing fair,
In dancing, skating, who so rare?
Adieu, too soon, O Citadel!
Adieu, hogs-back, we like thee well,
Though when on poudré days we've crossed,
Noses and ears we've all but lost.
Adieu, to Montmorency's Fall!
Adieu, ye ice-cones large and small!
Who can forget the traîneau's leap
From off that icy height, so steep;
It takes your breath as clean away
As plunge in air—at best you may
Get safely down, and borne along,
Run till upset; but ah! if wrong
At first, you take to turning round,
The traîneau leaves you, and you're found
Down at the bottom, rolling still,
Shaken and bruised and feeling ill.
Adieu, ye lakes and all the fishing!
To cast a fly we've long been wishing.
One last adieu! sorry are we
That this must be our p.p.c.!
Folly to think we'll feel resigned
In leaving you, who've proved so kind.
Our bark of happiness goes wreck,
In quitting you, far-famed Quebec!
—P.P.C., of the 25th K.O.B.

Our thoroughfares, our promenades, even in those dreary months, when the northern blast howls over the Canadian landscape, have some blithsome gleams of sunshine. Never shall we forget one bright, frosty January afternoon, about four o'clock, in the year 1872, when solitary, though not sad, standing on Durham [80] Terrace, was unveiled to us "a most magnificent picture, a scene of glorified nature painted by the hand of the Creator. The setting sun had charged the skies with all its gorgeous heraldry of purple and crimson and gold, and the tints were diffused and reflected through fleecy clouds, becoming softer and richer through expansion. The mountain tops, wood-crowned, where the light and shadow appeared to be struggling for mastery, stood out in relief from the white plain, and stretching away in indistinct, dreamy distances finally seemed to blend with the painted skies. The ice-covered bay was lit up with glowing shades, in contrast with the deep blue of the clear water beyond; from which the island rose, and into which the point jutted with grand picturesqueness; the light played through the frost-adorned, but still sombre pines, and spread out over deserted fields. Levis and the south shore received not so much of the illumination, and the grimness of the Citadel served as a contrast and a relief to the eye bewildered with the unaccustomed grandeur. But as the sun sank deeper behind the eternal hills, shadows began to fall, and the bright colours toned down to the grey of dusk, stars shone out, the grey was chased away, and the azure, diamond-dotted skies told not of the glory of sunset which had so shortly before suffused them."—(Morning Chronicle.)

We have just seen described the incomparable panorama which a winter sunset disclosed from the lofty promenade, to which the Earl of Dufferin has bequeathed his name. Let us now accompany one of our genial summer butterflies, fluttering through the mazes of old Stadacona escorting a bride; let us listen to W. D. Howells in the WEDDING JOURNEY. "Nothing, I think, more enforces the illusion of Southern Europe in Quebec than the Sunday-night promenading on the Durham (now Dufferin) Terrace. This is the ample span on the brow of the cliff to the left of the Citadel, the noblest and most commanding position in the whole city, which was formerly occupied by the old Castle of St. Louis, where dwelt the brave Count Frontenac and his splendid successors of the French régime. The castle went the way of Quebec by fire some forty years ago (23rd January, 1834), and Lord Durham levelled the site and made it a public promenade. A stately arcade of solid masonry supports it on the brink of the rock, and an iron parapet incloses it; there are a few seats to lounge upon, and some idle old guns for the children to clamber over and play with. A soft twilight had followed the day, and there was just enough obscurity to hide from a willing eye the Northern and New World facts of the scene, and to leave in more romantic relief the citadel dark against the mellow evening, and the people gossiping from window to window across the narrow streets of the Lower Town. The Terrace itself was densely thronged, and there was a constant coming and going of the promenaders, and each formally paced back and forth upon the planking for a certain time, and then went quietly home, giving place to new arrivals. They were nearly all French, and they were not generally, it seemed, of the first fashion, but rather of middling condition in life; the English being represented only by a few young fellows, and now and then a red-faced old gentleman with an Indian scarf trailing from his hat. There were some fair American costumes and faces in the crowd, but it was essentially Quebecian. The young girls, walking in pairs, or with their lovers, had the true touch of provincial unstylishness, the young men had the ineffectual excess of the second-rate Latin dandy, the elder the rude inelegance of a bourgeoisie in them; but a few better-figured avocats or notaires (their profession was as unmistakable as if they carried their well-polished door-plates upon their breasts), walked and gravely talked with each other. The non-American character of the scene was not less vividly marked in the fact, that each person dressed according to his own taste, and frankly indulged private shapes and colours. One of the promenaders was in white, even to his canvas shoes; another, with yet bolder individuality, appeared in perfect purple. It had a strange, almost portentous effect when these two startling figures met as friends and joined with each other in the promenade with united arms; but the evening was beginning to darken round them, and presently the purple comrade was merely a sombre shadow beside the glimmering white.

The valleys and the heights now vanished; but the river defined itself by the varicolored light of the ships and steamers that lay, dark, motionless hulks upon its broad breast; the lights of Point Levis swarmed upon the other shore; the Lower Town, two hundred feet below them, stretched an alluring mystery of clustering roofs and lamp-lit windows, and dark and shining streets around the mighty rock, mural-crowned. Suddenly a spectacle peculiarly Northern and characteristic of Quebec revealed itself; a long arch brightened over the northern horizon; the tremulous flames of the aurora, pallid violet or faintly tinged with crimson, shot upward from it, and played with a vivid apparition and evanescence to the zenith. While the stranger looked, a gun boomed from the Citadel, and the wild, sweet notes of the bugle sprang out upon the silence."

THE LOWER TOWN.

On bidding adieu to the lofty plateau which constitutes the Upper Town, on our way to an antiquarian ramble in the narrow, dusty, or muddy thoroughfares of the Lower (as it was formerly styled) the Low Town, we shall cast a glance, a glance only, at the facade of the City Post Office, on the site of which, until razed in 1871, stood that legendary, haunted old house, "LE CHIEN D'OR." Having fully described it elsewhere, [81] let us hurry on, merely looking up as we pass, to the gilt tablet and inscription and its golden dog, gnawing his bone, pretty much as he appeared one hundred and twenty-two years ago, to Capt. John Knox, of the 43rd Regt., on his entering Quebec, after its capitulation on the 18th September, 1759. History has indeed shed very little light on the Golden Dog and its inscription since that date, but romance has seized hold of him, and Kirby, Marmette, Soulard and others have enshrined both with the halo of their imagination. In 1871 the corner stone of the "Chien d'Or" was unearthed; a leaden plate disclosed the following inscription:—

"NICOLAS LAQUIN
Dit PHILIBER,
M'a posé le 2e Aoust,
1735."

We clip the following from KNOX'S JOURNAL, of the siege of Quebec in 1759, at which he was both an actor and an eye-witness:—

"On the right of the descent, leading to the low town, stands a stately old house, said to be the first built of stone in this city (Quebec), and over the front door of it is engraved a dog gnawing a large, fleshy bone, which he has got under and between his fore-feet, with the following whimsical inscription:—

"Je suis le chien qui ronge l'os,
Sans en perdre an seul morceau;
Le temp viendra, qui n'est pas venu,
Je mordrai celui, qui m'aura mordû."

"The true meaning of this device I never could learn, though I made all possible inquiries, without being gratified with the least information respecting its allusion. I have been informed that the first proprietor of the house was a man of great natural abilities, and possessed a plentiful fortune, which he, after many disappointments and losses in trade, had scraped together by means of the most indefatigable industry. Now, whether the foregoing device had any reference to these particulars of his own private affairs, or that we may rather suppose the bone with flesh on it to resemble Canada, and the dog an emblem of fidelity, to represent the French settled there as if determined faithfully to defend that colony for their King and country against the savage natives, who may perhaps be alluded to by the two last lines of the inscription, I will not take upon me to determine, but submit it to the more penetrating capacity of the curious reader."—(KNOX'S JOURNAL, Vol. II., p. 149.)

There are two ways of arriving at this El Dorado of commerce: an easy, expeditious, and, it is believed a safe passage, originated by our enterprising fellow-townsman, W. A. G. Griffith, Esq.—the Terrace Elevator. The ascent or descent by the elevator occupies fifty seconds of time, at the moderate cost of three cents per head. The elevator, opened to the public on 10th February, 1880, was erected at a cost of about $30,000. Whether it is placed in the most suitable spot remains to be seen.

THE ELEVATOR.

"The elevator is worked by the weight of water; this necessitates there always being a sufficient supply in the tank at the top of the incline, which is pumped by a 12-horse-power steam pump from a large tank at the foot. The modus operandi is as follows: Suppose a person enters the car at the foot of the incline to be carried to the top, the bell-boy at once rings a bell to notify the brakesman to go ahead; weight is required to bring the car and passenger from the foot to the top, and both cars being built on tanks with necessary valves for the entrance of the water from the upper tank and for the exit of the same water when it reaches the bottom of the track, which the large tank below receives, the brakesman proceeds to open one of the water valves and allows sufficient water to enter the car tank until it outweighs the car and passengers at the foot; the cars are now supposed to be in motion, with the bell-boy at the foot and brakesman at the top of the incline, who duties are to watch that everything runs smoothly and that the track is clear of all obstructions. Nothing can happen inside the cars during the transit that is not noticed by the employés; now let us suppose that while in motion one of the cables breaks, there is a second cable to take all the strain, which is never over five tons, and each cable will lift at least 30 tons, but should it happen by some extraordinary oversight that there existed flaws in the cables which had not been noticed, so that first one cable broke and then the second also broke, it would probably be thought that an accident must occur. No such catastrophe would happen, because under the cars and out of sight there are two enormously strong chisels bolted to the iron tank, and running within half an inch of the trestle work; immediately the strain is taken off the cables, or immediately the two cables break, the two chisels would enter the strong wooden beams that support the iron rails and hold the cars firmly in position. Finally, let us suppose that these chisels also gave way, it must be said surely an accident is now inevitable; but no, for at the top as well as at the foot of the track there are two air buffers, against which the cars strike on their ascent and descent. So nicely adjusted are they, and so ingeniously are they constructed, that although the cars may descend with great force against these air buffers, the resistance being gradually developed as the air compresses, there will be but little, if any, extra shock. Should the brakesman happen to be absent from his post, we are informed by the Manager that no irregularities would occur in consequence, as a governor regulates the speed at which the cars are to go, and on their arrival the air buffers come into play and receive them. So well has the brakesman the cars under his control that at one stroke of the bell he can stop them instantaneously wherever they may be on the track. The brakes are arranged in such a way that it would seem to be quite impossible for both of them to be out of order at the same time; but even if they were, nothing could happen, as the air buffers would check the force of any extra shock. It may be thought that an enormous quantity of water must be used to work this machinery, seeing that there is a 5,000 gallon water-tank at the top of the incline and a 10,000 gallon tank at the foot, but such is not the case, the water which is pumped up from the lower to the upper tank returns again to the lower one, and so the same water is used over and over again; indeed, the amount of water wasted is not nearly as much as is consumed by a private family. In confirmation of this statement, only a halt-inch tap is used to supply the tanks, and the Manager informs us that frequently for days together the tap is not turned on either at night or day."

How our worthy grandfathers would have shrugged their shoulders had such an innovation been mooted eighty years ago. The other mode of penetrating into the Lower Town is through that steep and tortuous hill—called Mountain Hill by the English, Côte de la Montagne by the French.

This is the hill which has re-echoed the tread of so many regiments, on which so many Governors, French and English, have, on divers occasions, heard themselves enthusiastically cheered by eager crowds; the hill which Viceroys of France and of England, from the ostentatious Marquis de Tracy to the proud Earl of Durham, ascended on their way to Government House, surrounded by their brilliant staffs and saluted by cannon and with warlike flourish of trumpets! In earlier times the military and religious display was blended with an aroma of literature and elaborate Indian oratory, combining prose and poetry.

Francis Parkman will tell us of what took place on the arrival, on the 28th July, 1658, of the Viscount D'Argenson, the Governor of the colony:— "When Argenson arrived to assume the government, a curious greeting had awaited him. The Jesuits asked him to dine; vespers followed the repast; and then they conducted him to a hall where the boys of their school— disguised, one as the Genius of New France, one as the Genius of the Forest, and others as Indians of various friendly tribes—made him speeches by turn, in prose and in verse. First, Pierre du Quet, who played the Genius of New France, presented his Indian retinue to the Governor, in a complimentary harangue. Then four other boys, personating French colonists, made him four flattering addresses, in French verse. Charles Denis, dressed as a Huron, followed, bewailing the ruin of his people, and appealing to Argenson for aid. Jean François Bourdon, in the character of an Algonquin, next advanced on the platform, boasted his courage, and declared that he was ashamed to cry like the Huron. The Genius of the Forest now appeared, with a retinue of wild Indians from the interior, who, being unable to speak French, addressed the Governor in their native tongues, which the Genius proceeded to interpret. Two other boys in the character of prisoners just escaped from the Iroquois, then came forward imploring aid in piteous accents; and in conclusion the whole troop of Indians from far and near laid their bows and arrows at the feet of Argenson, and hailed him as their chief.

Besides these mock Indians, a crowd of genuine savages had gathered at Quebec to greet the new "Ononthio." On the next day—at his own cost, as he writes to a friend—he gave them a feast, consisting of seven large kettlesful of Indian corn, peas, prunes, sturgeon, eels and fat, which they devoured, he says, after having first sung me a song, after their fashion."

Probably one of the most gorgeous displays on record was that attending the arrival of the great Marquis of Tracy, in 1665. He came with a brilliant staff, a crowd of young nobles; and accompanied by two hundred soldiers, to be followed by a thousand more of the dashing regiment of Carignan-Salières. He sailed up the St. Lawrence, and on the 30th of June, 1665, anchored in the basin of Quebec. The broad, white standard, blazoned with the arms of France, proclaimed the representative of royalty; and Point Levi and Cape Diamond and the distant Cape Tourmente roared back the sound of saluting cannon. All Quebec was on the ramparts or at the landing place, and all eyes were strained at the two vessels as they slowly emptied their crowded decks into the boats alongside. The boats at length drew near, and the Lieutenant-General and his suite landed on the quay with a pomp such as Quebec had never seen before.

Tracy was a veteran of sixty-two, portly and tall, "one of the largest men I ever saw," writes Mother Mary (Marie de l'Incarnation), but he was sallow with disease, for fever had seized him, and it had fared ill with him on the long voyage. The Chevalier de Chaumont walked at his side, and young nobles surrounded him, gorgeous in lace and ribbons, and majestic in leonine wigs. Twenty-four guards in the King's livery led the way, followed by four pages and six valets; [82] and thus, while the Frenchmen shouted and the Indians stared, the august procession threaded the streets of the Lower Town, and climbed the steep pathway that scaled the cliffs above. Breathing hard, they reached the top, passed on the left the dilapidated walls of the Fort and the shed of mingled wood and masonry which then bore the name of the Castle de St. Louis; passed on the right the old house of Couillard and the site of Laval's new Seminary, and soon reached the square betwixt the Jesuit College and the Cathedral.

The bells were ringing in a frenzy of welcome. Laval in pontificals, surrounded by priests and Jesuits, stood waiting to receive the Deputy of the King, and as he greeted Tracy and offered him the holy water, he looked with anxious curiosity to see what manner of man he was. The signs were auspicious. The deportment of the Lieutenant-General left nothing to desire. A prie-dieu had been placed for him. He declined it. They offered him a cushion, but he would not have it, and fevered as he was, he knelt on the bare pavement with a devotion that edified every beholder. Te Deum was sung and a day of rejoicing followed. [83]

In our day, we can recall but one pageant at all equal: the roar of cannon, &c., attending the advent of the great Earl of Durham, [84] but there were noticeable fewer "priests," fewer "Jesuits," and less "kneeling" in the procession. There was something oriental in the vice- regal pageantry. Line-of-battle ships—stately frigates, twelve in number —the Malabar, Hastings, Cornwallis, Inconstant, Hercules, Pique, Charybdis, Pearl, Vestal, Medea, Dee and Andromache visited that summer our shores, a suitable escort to the able, proud, humane, [85] but unlucky Viceroy and High Commissioner, with his clever advisers—the Turtons, Bullers, Wakefields, Hansomes, Derbyshires, Dunkins, cum multis aliis. The Dictator was determined to "make a country or mar a career." He has left us a country.

That warlike, though festive summer of 1838, with our port studded with three-deckers and spanking frigates, was long remembered in the annals of the bon ton. Some men-of-war were in especial favour. A poetical lament by the Quebec ladies was wafted to the departing officers of H. M. frigate Inconstant, the words by the Laureate of the period, George W. Wicksteed, of Ottawa. This effusion includes the names of every vessel in the fleet in italics, and of several of the officers.

THE LADIES' ADDRESS TO THE INCONSTANTS. Written by G. W. Wicksteed.

We saw the Hastings hasting off,
And never made a fuss.
The Malabar's departure waked
No malady in us.

We were not piqued to lose the Pique;
Each lady's heart at ease is,
Altho' the Dees are on the seas,
And gone the Hercules—es.

Our parting with the Andromache
Like Hector's not at all is;
Nor are we Washingtons to seek
To capture a Cornwallis.

And no Charybdis ever caught
Our hearts in passion's whirls;
There's not a girl among us all
Has ever fished for Pearls.

The Vestals with their sacred flame
Were not the sparks we wanted;
We've looked Medeas in the face,
And yet were not enchanted.

But when our dear Inconstants go,
Our grief shall know no bounds,
The dance shall have no joy for us,
The song no merry sounds.

All dismal then shall be the waltz,
The dull quadrille as bad,
And wearily we'll hurry through
The joyless galopade.

We'll gaze upon each changeful cloud
As through the air it skims,
We'll think of fickle fortune's wheel,
And fashion's turns and whims—

Sweet emblems of Inconstancy
In each of these we'll find,
And our Inconstants constantly
We'll fondly bear in mind.

And spite of Durham's fetes and balls,
We'll pine and mourn and mope
Our long, long winter season through,
As girls without a Hope.

And when the spring shall come again,
Our hearts, to pleasure dead,
Shall sigh for spring without an S,
And wish for Pring instead.

Unless, indeed, sweet spring with Hope
Those hearts again should bless,
And bring our dear Inconstants back,
And spring without an S.
Quebec, 6th July, 1838.

(From Waifs in Verse, by G. W. Wicksteed, Q.C., Law Clerk, House of
Commons of Canada, 1878.)

To which melting address the "Inconstants," on their way to Britain, feelingly replied. Our space allows us to insert but a few stanzas of this poetical lament.

All language fails to tell how much
We value your address,
Or say how deeply we partake
The feelings you express.

Those Hastings are a hasty set,
And left you in a hurry;
Those Malabars are malapert,
And hot as Indian curry.

Be true, and then the breath of May
Shall fill our sails and bring
Our willing steps and eager hearts,
And Spring—and Pring—and Ring.

And each of you for one of ours
Shall change her maiden name,
And as we are all Inconstants, you
Of course will be the same.
Kamouraska, August, 1838.

Here we stand on the principal artery of the commerce of the city, St. Peter street, having a width of only twenty-four feet. St. Peter street is probably not so ancient as its sister, Sault-au-Matelot street. St. Peter street was so named in memory of Messire Pierre le Voyer d'Argenson, who, in 1658, came to Quebec as successor to M. de Lauzon. M. d'Argenson was, in 1661, succeeded by the Baron d'Avaugour.

On the site on which the Quebec Bank [86] was erected in 1863, there stood the offices, the vaults, and the wharf of the well-known merchant, John Lymburner. There were three Lymburners: John, lost at sea in the fall of 1775, Mathew, and Adam, the most able of the three; they were, no doubt related to each other. The loyalty of Adam, towards the British Crown, in 1775, was more than suspected; his oratorical powers, however, and his knowledge of constitutional law, made him a fit delegate to England in 1791, to plead the cause of the colony before the Metropolitan authorities. His speech on the occasion is reported in the Canadian Review, published at Montreal in 1826.

Colonel Henry Caldwell states that, in 1775, Governor Guy Carleton had ordered a cannon to be pointed from the wharf on which stood Lymburner's house, with the intention to open fire upon the Bostonais, should they attempt a surprise on the Sault-au-Matelot quarter. Massive and strongly built stone vaults (probably of French origin), are still extant beneath the house adjoining, to the south of this last, belonging to the heirs Atkinson.

On the site of the offices of Mr. McGie stood, in 1759, the warehouse of M. Perrault, l'aîné, from a great number of letters and invoice-bills found in the garret, and which a friend [87] has placed at our disposal, it would seem that M. Perrault had extensive commercial relations both in Canada and in France. A curious letter to M. Perrault, from Bigot's notorious councillor, Estebe, then in Bordeaux, was found in this tenement. It discloses a sad state of things in Old France. This old document dates of 24th February, 1760, a few months subsequent to the Battle of the Plains and a few weeks prior to that of Ste. Foye, in April, 1760.

"BORDEAUX, 24th February, 1760.

"To Monsieur Perrault,

Quebec:

"SIR,—It was with heartfelt pleasure I received your favour of the 7th November last, since, in spite of your misfortunes, it apprized me of the fact that both you and your lady were well.

"I feel grateful for the sympathy you express in our troubles during our passage from Quebec to Bordeaux. I wish I could as easily forget the misfortunes of Canada as I do the annoyances we suffered on the voyage.

"We learned, via England, by the end of October last, the unfortunate fate of Quebec. You can imagine how we felt on hearing of such dreadful news I could contain neither my tears nor my regrets on learning the loss of a city and country to which I owe everything, and to which I am as sincerely attached as any of the natives. We flattered ourselves that the silence the English had kept during all last summer on their operation was of good omen for us, and that they would be ignominiously compelled to raise the siege; we had even an indistinct knowledge of the repulse they had met with at Montmorency (31st July, 1759); we knew that our troops followed them closely wherever they attempted to land. We have erred like you in the hopes we cherished. What fatality, what calamity and how many events unknown to us have led to your downfall? You do not know, my dear Sir, of the extent of your misfortunes. You imagine that the loss of the remainder of the colony is close at hand. You are right. This cannot be otherwise, since the relief which is sent to you from France cannot prevent that. The small help which Canadians expected from the payment of some Treasury notes is taken away from them; none are paid since the 15th of October last. This, then, is the overwhelming blow to all our hopes! The Treasury notes of the other colonies are generally in the same predicament; the King pays none, and the nation groans under taxation. No credit, no confidence, anywhere; no commerce nor shipments; a general bankruptcy in all the cities of France. The kingdom is in the greatest desolation possible. Our armies have been beaten everywhere; our navy no more exists—our ships have been either captured or burnt on the coasts where the enemy has driven them ashore, Admiral de Conflans having been defeated in getting out of the harbor of Brest. In one word, we are in a state of misery and humiliation without precedent. The finances of the King are in fearful disorder; he has had to send his plate to the Mint. The Seigneurs have followed his example, and private individuals are compelled to sell their valuables in order to live and pay the onerous taxes which weigh on them. At the present moment, by Royal order, an inventory is being taken of the silver of all the churches of the kingdom. No doubt it will have to be sent to the Mint, and payment will be made when that of the Treasury notes takes place—that is, when it pleases God. Such is a summary of what now occurs here. How I regret, my dear Sir, the merry days I spent in Canada! I would like to be there still if matters were as formerly. I could own a turn-out there, whereas I go on foot, like a dog, through the mud of Bordeaux, where I certainly do not live in the style I did in Quebec. Please God this iron age may soon end! We flattered ourselves this winter that peace would soon be proclaimed; it is much talked of, but I see no signs of it. It will, it is said, require another campaign to complete the ruin, and to postpone more and more the payment of the Treasury notes. What will be the ultimate fate of these bills is very hard to say. It is unlikely any settlement of them will be made before peace is concluded. My opinion is that nothing will be lost on the bills, which are registered, but I cannot say the same of the exchange, which is not registered, since payment has been stopped. The Government has refused to register any bills, even some which had been sent to me, and which were payable in 1758. I negotiated some registered ones here and in Paris at 50 per cent. discount. Non-registered ones are valueless, and you get few purchasers even for registered bills. Four richly laden vessels belonging to the West India Company (Compagnie des Indes) have arrived lately. This was very opportune, as the Company was rather shaky. However, it never failed to pay the "Beaver Bills," and has even accepted those which had not yet fallen due. Our affairs on the coast of Coromandel are like the rest—in a bad way. Fears are entertained for Pondicherry. The English are arming a large expedition for Martinique. That island will have the same fate as Guadeloupe. The succor sent out to you, if ever it reaches you, of which I doubt, consists in six merchant ships, laden with 1,600 tons of provisions, some munitions of war, and 400 soldiers from Isle Royal. I believe this relief is sent to you more through a sense of honour than from any desire (as none exists) to help you. Many flatter themselves you will retake Quebec this winter. I wish you may, but I do not believe you will. This would require to be undertaken by experienced and determined men, and even then such attempts fail. [88] Remember me to your dear wife. Kiss my little friend (your boy) for me. I reserve him when he comes to France a gilt horse and a silver carriage. My wife and family beg to be remembered.

Yours, &c.,

(Sd) ESTEBE.

P.S.—Your brother is always at La Rochelle. Since I am at Bordeaux, out of 80 vessels which left South America, one only has arrived here. You can fancy how trade stagnates. A singular distrust exists everywhere. The exchange of —— and other good houses is refused. Those who want to remit to Paris have to get their specie carried.

6th March, 1760.

The hospital of Toulouse is just short of nine millions. Bankrupts everywhere merchants and others.

St. Peter street has become the general headquarters of the most important commerce, and of life insurance and fire assurance offices. The financial institutions are there proudly enthroned: the Bank of Montreal (founded in 1818 and incorporated in 1828), Bank of Quebec (founded in 1817), the Union Bank (founded in 1865), the Banque Nationale (founded in 1873), the Bank of British North America (founded in 1836, incorporated in 1840, opened at Quebec in 1837), the Merchants' Bank (founded in 1861).

In this street resided, in 1774, the Captain Bouchette, who, in the following year, in his little craft, Le Gaspé, brought us back our brave Governor, Guy Carleton; M. Bouchard, merchant, M. Panet, N.P. (the father of His Lordship, Bishop B.C. Panet), as also M. Boucher, Harbor Master of Quebec, "(who was appointed to that post by the Governor, Sir R. S. Milnes, on the recommendation of the Duke of Kent.)." [89] Boucher had piloted the vessel, having on board the 7th Regiment, (the Duke's), from Quebec to Halifax.

The office in which the Quebec Morning Chronicle has been published since 1847, belonged in 1759 to M. Jean Taché, "President of the Mercantile Body," "an honest, and sensible man," as appears by Mémoirs sur le Canada, (1749-60). One of our first poets, he composed a poem "On the Sea." The ancestor of the late Sir E. P. Taché, and of the novelist, Jos. Marmette and others, he possessed, at that period, extensive buildings on the Napoleon wharf, which were destroyed by fire in 1845, and a house in the country, on the Ste. Foye road, afterwards called "Holland House," after Major Samuel Holland, our first Provincial Surveyor-General, whose services as surveyor and engineer were subsequently so conspicuous at Quebec and at Prince Edward Island.

The Chronicle building, during nearly half a century, was a coffee house, much frequented by sea-faring men, known as the "Old Neptune" Inn. The effigy of the sea-god, armed with his formidable trident, placed over the main entrance, seemed to threaten the passers-by. We can remember, as yesterday, his colossal proportions. "Old Neptune" [90] has disappeared about thirty years back.

THE OLD NEPTUNE INN.

"Shall I not take mine ease in mine Inn." —Shakespeare.

"The Golden Fleece was the oldest tavern in Corinth. It had been the resort of sea-faring men from the remotest period."—(Travels of Herodotus in Greece, 460 B.C.)

When the brilliant Henry Ward Beecher pronounced Quebec an Old Curiosity Shop, we are induced to think that amidst its accumulated antiquarian relics, its church pictures and madonnas, its famous battle-fields, its historical monuments, massive fortifications and wondrous scenery,—more than one of the quaint French dwellings with their peaked gables, and walls four feet thick, must have caught his observant eye. However striking Ward Beecher's word-painting may be, it would I opine, have required the marvellous pencil of the author of "The House with the Seven Gables," Nathaniel Hawthorne, becomingly to portray all the arcana of such a building as the Chien d'Or (the old Post Office), with its ghastly memories of blood and revenge.

The legendary moss clustering round these hoary piles, is not, however, always dark and gloomy. Love, war, adventure, occasionally lend them their exciting or their soft glamour. Sometimes the annals of commerce entwine them with a green wreath—a sure talisman against the rust of oblivion. It is one of the land marks of commerce we purpose here briefly to describe.

At the foot of Mountain Hill, lies our chief emporium of news, labelled for more than a quarter of a century, Morning Chronicle Office. These premises stand on a very conspicuous site, viz., at the foot of Mountain Hill, the highway from the port to the Upper Town, direct to the old Château and Citadel—a few rods only from the spot where Champlain, in 1608, laid the foundations of his extensive warehouses and dwelling, and close to where, in 1615, he had his famous gardens. This business stand, for many years past, was owned by the late Hon. Henry Black; at present it belongs to Hon. Geo. Okill Stuart, Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty. Its beginnings brings us back to the era of the Bourbon sovereigns of Canada, to the unregretted time (1758), when Intendant Bigot's shoddy entourage held high carnival in famine-stricken Quebec.

In those blighting days, in which Madame de Pompadour reigned in France, and Madame Pean in Quebec, rings and public robbery flourished in Canada; but among high officials, all were not corrupt. There were some memorable exceptions. One of these exceptions was the worthy, witty, and honest warden of the Quebec merchants, Jean Taché, "homme probe et d'esprit," say old memoirs. Mr. Taché, the "syndic des marchands," was not only an upright and wealthy merchant, he was also gifted with the poetical fire; he, it was, who wrote the first French poem issued in Canada, "Le Tableau de la Mer."

Jean Taché was also an extensive holder of real estate in and round Quebec, warehouses (des voûtes) on the Napoleon wharf; a country seat on the Ste. Foye road, subsequently the property of Surveyor- General Samuel Holland—Holland Farm; lastly, the well-known business stand, where, in 1847, Mr. St. Michel printed James Bell Forsyth's news sheet, the Morning Chronicle.

Commercial ruin overtook the worthy Lower Town magnate, Monsieur Taché; his ships and cargoes, during the war of the conquest, like the rest of poor, deserted Canada, fell into English hands, being captured at sea; out of the disaster Jean Taché saved naught but his honourable name.

We fail to trace for a time the fortunes of his Mountain Hill Counting House. At the dawn of this century the premises were used as a famous coffee-house, the "Neptune" Inn, [91] a noted place of resort for merchants, masters and owners of ships. Like the Golden Fleece Tavern of Corinth, which seems to have sheltered the father of History— Herodotus—in the year 460 B.C., its "banqueting saloon" was roomy, though every word uttered there also smacked of the salt water. The old "Neptune" was probably occasionally looked up in 1807 by the Press Gang, which, in those days, was not a thing to be laughed at. Witness the fate of poor Latresse, shot down for refusing to surrender to Lieut. Andrel, R.N., on trying to make his escape from a tavern in St. John's suburbs, where he had been attending a dancing party. [92]

Singularly enough, sixty years ago, the leading Lower Town merchants met in this old tenement of the former "Syndic des Marchands" to establish the first Exchange. Of the resolutions passed at the meeting thereat, held in 1816, and presided over by an eminent merchant, John William Woolsey, Esq., subsequently President of the Quebec Bank, we find a notice in the Quebec Gazette, of 12th December, 1816. [93] They decided to establish a Merchant's Exchange in the lower part of the "Neptune" Inn. Amongst those present, one recognizes familiar names—John Jones, George Symes, James Heath, Robert Melvin, Thomas Edward Brown, &c.

Why was the place called "Neptune" Inn? For the obvious reason that a large statue of the god of the sea, bearing in one hand a formidable iron trident, stood over the main entrance in a threatening attitude. This conspicuous land-mark was known to every British ship-captain frequenting our port. Right well can the writer of these lines remember the truculent trident.

But if, even in the days of that excellent landlady, Mrs. Hammond, it meant to the wearied mariner boundless cheer, the latest London papers, pipes and soothing rum punch mixed by a comely and cheerful bar-maid, to the unsophisticated Canadian peasant, attracted to the Lower Town on market days, it was of evil portent.

With honest Jean Baptiste, more deeply read in the Petit Catéchisme than in heathen mythology, the dreaded god of the sea and his truculent trident were ominous, in his simple eyes, they symbolised the Prince of Darkness, "Le diable et sa fourche," the terrors of a hereafter.

This did not, however, prevent Neptune from standing sentry, in the same exalted spot, for close on forty years, until in fact, having fallen to pieces by natural decay, it was removed about the time the Old Neptune Inn became the Morning Chronicle office; the whereabouts of its dejecta membra are now a dead secret.

The origin of the famed statue had defied the most recondite searchers of the past. For the following we are indebted to the retentive memory of that eminently respected authority, the "oldest inhabitant." The statue of Neptune, says the octogenarian, Robert Urquhart, so well remembered at the foot of Mountain Hill, was presented to the landlord of the hotel, George Cossar, formerly butler to Hon. Matthew Bell, who then owned the St. Lawrence Chambers. It had been the figure-head of the Neptune, a large king's ship, stranded in 1817 on Anticosti. Would the stranded Neptune of 1817 be the same as the flagship of Admiral Durell in 1759, the Neptune of 90 guns, to whom the large bell bearing the word "Neptune, 1760," inscribed on, belonged? This bell, which formerly stood on the Royal Engineers' workshop at Quebec, was recently taken to Ottawa. The wreck had been bought by John Goudie, of St. Roch suburb, then a leading ship builder, and, having to break it up, the figure-head was brought to Quebec, and presented as above stated.

The following respecting press gangs and the presence of Lord Nelson, whilst at Quebec in 1782, was contributed by one of the "oldest inhabitants" to QUEBEC PAST AND PRESENT, but reached too late for insertion:—

MY RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PAST.

J. M. LEMOINE, Esq., Spencer Grange.

DEAR SIR,—I have much pleasure in acceding to your request to send you a note of some circumstances connected with the city, in which seventy-one years of my life—now verging towards eighty— have been spent. I am familiar with no part of Nelson's career, except what I heard from my mother's own lips respecting this brave man. My mother was gifted with a remarkable memory, and recollected well having herself seen Captain Nelson, when in 1782, he commanded at Quebec the sloop-of-war Albemarle. "He was erect, stern of aspect and wore, as was then customary, the queue or pigtail," she often repeated. Her idea of the Quebec young lady to whom he had taken such a violent fancy, was that her name was Woolsey—an aunt or elder sister, perhaps, of the late John W. Woolsey, Esq., President for some years of the Quebec Bank, who died in 1852, at a very advanced age. According to her, it was a Mr. Davidson who prevented the imprudent marriage contemplated.

As to the doings of the press gangs in the Lower Town and suburbs, I can speak from what I saw more than once. Impressing seamen lasted at Quebec from 1807, until after the battle of Waterloo. The terror these sea-faring gentlemen created was great. I remember a fine young fellow who refused to surrender, being shot through the back with a holster pistol and dying of the wound, this was in 1807. I can name the following as being seized by press gangs * * * * * Soon ruses were resorted to by the gay fellows who wandered after night fall in quest of amusement in the highways and byways. Her Majesty's soldiers were, of course, exempt of being impressed into the naval service; so, that our roving city youths would either borrow coats, or get some made, similar to the soldiers', to elude the press gang. These ruses were, however, soon stopped, the press gang, having secured the services of two city constables, Rosa and ———, who could spot every city youth and point out the counterfeits.

R. URQUHART.

Quebec, 1st August, 1876.

Parallel with St. Peter street, runs Notre Dame street, which leads us to the little Church of the Lower Town, named Notre Dame de la Victoire, in remembrance of the victory achieved in 1690 over Sir William Phipps. This church was, at a later period, called "Notre Dame des Victoires," in commemoration of the dispersion by a storm of Admiral Walker's squadron, in 1711. Bishop Laval had projected the erection of this modest little church, but the building of it was performed in 1688, under the auspices of his successor, Bishop St. Vallier, out of funds provided by the Lower Town ladies. The corner of these streets (St. Peter and Sous-le-Fort streets) is probably the site of the "Abitation," close to the walks and garden plots where Champlain cultivated roses and carnations, about the year 1615.

Fronting the Church of "Notre Dame des Victoires," and on the site now occupied as Blanchard's Hotel, the ladies of the Ursulines, in 1639, found a refuge in a humble residence, a sort of shop or store, owned at that period by the Sieur Juchereau des Châtelets, at the foot of the path (sentier), leading up to the mountain (foot of Mountain street), and where the then Governor, M. de Montmagny, as is related, sent them their first Quebec meal.

The locality possesses other pleasant memories: the good, the youthful, the beautiful Madame de Champlain, about the year 1620, here catechised and instructed, under the shade of the trees, the young Huron Indians, in the principles of Christianity. History has related their surprise and joy on seeing their features reflected in the small mirror which their benefactress wore suspended at her side, "close to her heart," as they said, according to the then prevailing custom.

In 1682 a conflagration broke out in the Lower Town, which, besides the numerous vaults and stores, reduced into ashes a considerable portion of the buildings. Denonville, on the 20th August, 1685, wrote to Paris, asking His Most Christian Majesty to contribute 200 crowns worth of leather fire-buckets, and in 1691 the historical Dutch pump was imported to throw water on fires. At a later period, 1688, "Notre Dame de la Victoire" Church was begun on part of the ruins. Let us open the second volume of the "Cours d'Histoire du Canada," by the Abbé Ferland, and let us read: "Other ruins existed in 1684, in the commercial centre of the Lower Town; these ruins consisted of blackened and dilapidated walls. Champlain's old warehouse, which, from the hands of the Company (Compagnie de la Nouvelle France), had passed into those of the King (Louis XIV.), had remained in the same state as when left after the great fire which, some years previously, had devastated the Lower Town."

In 1684 Monseigneur de Laval obtained this site or emplacement from M. de la Barre for the purpose of erecting a supplementary chapel for the use of the inhabitants in the Lower Town. This gift, however, was ratified only later, in favor of M. de St. Valier, in the month of September, 1685. Messieurs de Denonville and de Meules caused a clear and plain title or patent of this locality to be issued for the purpose of erecting a church which, in the course of time, was built by the worthy Bishop and named "Notre Dame de la Victoire." The landing for small craft, in the vicinity of the old market (now the Finlay [94] Market), was called "La Place du Débarquement," or simply "La Place."

It is in this vicinity, a little to the west, under the silent shade of a wood near the garden which Champlain had laid out, that the historical interview, in 1608, which saved the colony, took place. The secret was of the greatest importance; it is not to be wondered at if Champlain's trusty pilot, Captain Testu, deemed it proper to draw the founder of Quebec aside into the neighbouring wood and make known to him the villanous plot which one of the accomplices, Antoine Natel, lock-smith, had first disclosed to him under the greatest secrecy. The chief of the conspiracy was one Jean du Val, who had come to the country with Champlain.

In rear of and parallel to St. Peter street, a new and wide street, called after one of the Governors of Canada—Dalhousie street—was opened recently, and promises to be before long the leading commercial artery. Several extensive warehouses have been erected on Dalhousie street since it was opened to the public, in 1877, by the city Corporation purchasing from St. James street to St. Andrew's wharf a strip of land, of 60 feet in breadth, from the landed proprietors of this neighbourhood. At the south- western extremity a noble dry goods store has just been erected by Mr. George Alford; it is four stories high, 155 feet long and 72 feet wide, and faces on Dalhousie, Laporte, Union Lane and Finlay Market. It is occupied by a wealthy and ancient dry goods firm, founded in Montreal about 1810, with a branch in Quebec, in 1825. The original founders were Messrs. Robertson, Masson & Larocque; this firm was subsequently changed to Robertson, Masson, Strang & Co., to Masson, Bruyère, Thibaudeau & Co., to Langevin, Thibaudeau, Bruyère & Co., to Thibaudeau, Thomas & Co., to Thibaudeau, Généreux & Co., and finally to Thibaudeau Frères & Co., at Quebec; Thibaudeau Bros. & Co., Montreal; Thibaudeau Bros. & Co., London, Manchester and Manitoba.

In the early days of the colony, the diminutive market space, facing the front of Notre Dame Church, Lower Town, as well as the Upper Town Market, was used for the infliction of corporal punishment, or the pillory, or the execution of culprits.

On the area facing the Lower Town Church on Notre Dame street, the plan of the city, drawn by the engineer, Jean François or Jehan Bourdon, in 1641, shows a bust of Louis XIII., long since removed; this market, which dates from the earliest times of the colony, as well as the vacant area (until recently the Upper Town market, facing the Basilica), was used as a place for corporal punishment, and for the exhibition in the pillory of public malefactors.

"Among the incidents," says Mr. T. P. Bédard, "which claimed the privilege of exciting the curiosity of the good folks of Quebec (then 1680, inhabited by 1,345 souls,) was reckoned the case of Jean Rathier, charged with murdering a girl of eighteen—Jeanne Couc. The case had been tried at Three Rivers, and Rathier sentenced to have his legs broken [95] with an iron bar, and afterwards to be hung. Judgment had been confirmed. An unforseen hitch arose: the official hangman was dead; how then was Rathier to be hung? The officers of justice cut the Gordian knot, by tendering to Rathier, in lieu of the halter, the position, little envied, of hangman. He accepted. Some years after, the wife and the daughter of Rathier were accused and found guilty as accomplices in a robbery; the daughter, as the receiver of the stolen goods, was sentenced to be whipped, but in secret, at the General Hospital by the nun appointed Provost Marshal (Maitress de Discipline), and the mother was also adjudged to be whipped, but publicly in the streets of the city. This incident furnished the singular and ludicrous spectacle of a husband publicly whipping his wife with impunity to himself, as he was acting under the authority of justice."— (Première Administration de Frontenac, p. 39.)

The whip and pillory did not go out with the old régime. The Quebec Gazette of 19th June, 1766, mentions the whipping, on the Upper and Lower Town markets, of Catherine Berthrand and Jeanotte Blaize, by the hand of the executioneer, for having "borrowed" (a pretty way of describing petty larceny), a silver spoon from a gentleman of the town, without leave or without intention of returning it.

For male reprobates, such as Jean May and Louis Bruseau, whose punishment for petty larceny is noted in the Gazette of 11th August, 1766, the whipping was supplemented with a walk—tied at the cart's tail—from the Court House door to St. Roch and back to the Court House. May had to whip Bruseau and Bruseau had to whip May the day following, at ten in the morning.

Let us revert to Captain Testu's doings. The plot was to strangle Champlain, pillage the warehouse, and afterwards betake themselves to the Spanish and Basque vessels, laying at Tadousac. As, at that period, no Court of Appeals existed in "la Nouvelle France"—far less was a "Supreme Court" thought of—the trial of the chief of the conspiracy was soon dispatched says Champlain, and the Sieur Jean du Val was "presto well and duly hanged and strangled at Quebec aforesaid, and his head affixed to the top of a pike-staff planted on the highest eminence of the Fort." The ghastly head of this traitor, on the end of a pike-staff, near Notre Dame street, must certainly have had a sinister effect at twilight.

But the brave Captain Testu, the saviour of Champlain and of Quebec—what became of him? Champlain has done him the honour of naming him; here the matter ended. Neither monument, nor poem, nor page of history in his honour; nothing was done in the way of commemorating his devotion. As in the instance of the illustrious man, whose life he had saved, his grave is unknown. According to the Abbé Tanguay, none of his posterity exist at this day.

During the siege of 1759, we notice in Panet's Journal, "that the Lower Town was a complete mass of smoking ruins; on the 8th August, it was a burning heap (braisier). Wolfe and Saunders' bombshells had found their way even to the under-ground vaults. This epoch became disastrous to many Quebecers." The English threw bombs (pots à feu) on the Lower Town, of which, says Mr. Panet, "one fell on my house, one on the houses in the Market place, and the last in Champlain street. The fire burst out simultaneously, in three different directions; it was in vain to attempt to cut off or extinguish the fire at my residence; a gale was blowing from the north-east, and the Lower Town was soon nothing less than a blazing mass. Beginning at my house, that of M. Desery, that of M. Maillou, Sault- au-Matelot street, the whole of the Lower Town and all the quarter Cul- de-Sac up to the property of Sieur Voyer, which was spared, and in short up to the house of the said Voyer, the whole was devastated by fire. Seven vaults [96] had been rent to pieces or burned: that of M. Perrault the younger, that of M. Taché, of M. Benjamin de la Mordic, of Jehaune, of Maranda. You may judge of the consternation which reigned; 167 houses had been burnt."

One hundred and sixty-seven burnt houses would create many gaps. We know the locality on which stood the warehouse of M. Perrault, junior, also that of M. Taché (the Chronicle Bureau), but who can point out to us where stood the houses of Desery, Maillou, Voyer, de Voisy, and the vaults of Messieurs Benjamin de la Mordic, Jehaune, Maranda?

It is on record that Champlain, after his return to Quebec, in 1633, "had taken care to refit a battery which he had planted on a level with the river near the warehouse, the guns of which commanded the passage between Quebec and the opposite shore." [97] Now, in 1683, "this cannon battery, erected in the Lower Town, almost surrounded on all sides by houses, stood at some distance from the edge of the river, and caused some inconvenience to the public; the then Governor, Lefebvre de la Barre [98] having sought out a much more advantageous locality towards the Point of Rocks (Pointe des Roches) west of the Cul-de-Sac, [99] and on the margin of the said river at high-water mark, which would more efficiently command and sweep the harbour, and which would cause far less inconvenience to the houses in the said Lower Town," considered it fit to remove the said battery, and the Reverend Jesuit Fathers having proposed to contribute towards the expenses which would be incurred in so doing, he made them a grant "of a portion of the lot of ground (emplacement) situated in front of the site on which is now planted the said cannon battery, * * * * between the street or high road for wheeled vehicles coming from the harbour [100] and the so-called St. Peter street."

Here then we have the origin of the Napoleon wharf and a very distinct mention of St. Peter street. The building erected near this site was sold on the 22nd October, 1763, to William Grant, Esquire, who, on the 19th December, 1763, also purchased the remainder of the ground down to low- water mark, from Thomas Mills, Esquire, Town Major, who had shortly before obtained a grant or patent of it, the 7th December, 1763, from Governor Murray, in recognition, as is stated in the preamble of the patent, of his military services. This property which, at a later period, belonged to the late William Burns, was by him conveyed, the 16th October, 1806, to the late J. M. Woolsey. The Napoleon wharf, purchased in 1842 by the late Julien Chouinard from the late Frs. Buteau, forms at present part of the Estate Chouinard; in reality, it is composed of two wharves joined into one; the western portion is named "The Queen's Wharf," and was Mr. Woolsey's property.

The highway which leads from the Cape towards this wharf is named "Sous- le-Fort" street, which sufficiently denotes its position; this street, the oldest, probably dates from the year 1620, when the foundations of Fort St. Louis were laid; we may presume that, in 1663, the street terminated at "la Pointe des Roches." In the last century "Sous-le-Fort" street was graced by the residences, among others, of Fleury de la Jannière, brother of Fleury de la Gorgendière, brother-in-law of the Governor de Vaudreuil.

In this street also stood the house of M. George Allsop, [101] the head of the opposition in Governor Cramahé's Council. His neighbour was M. d'Amours des Plaines, Councillor of the Superior Council; further on, stood the residence of M. Cuvillier, the father of the Honorable Austin Cuvillier, in 1844 Speaker of the House of Assembly. In this street also existed the warehouse of M. Cugnet, the lessee of the Domaine of Labrador.

We must not confound the Napoleon wharf, sold by J. O. Brunet to Francois Buteau, with the Queen's wharf, the property of the late J. W. Woolsey. On the Queen's wharf, in a dwelling, since converted into a tavern, in 1846 one of the wittiest members of the Quebec Bar, Auguste Soulard, Esq., opened a law office for the especial convenience of his numerous country clients. After office hours it was the rendezvous of many young barristers, who have since made their mark: Messieurs T. Fournier, Justice of the Supreme Court; A. Plamondon, Judge of the Superior Court; N. Casault, Judge of the Superior Court; Jean Taché, Frederick Braun, L. Fiset, J. M. Hudon and others. From the king's wharf to the king's forges (the ruins of which were discovered at the beginning of the century, a little further up than the king's store), there are but a few steps.

François Bellet, M.P. for the county of Buckingham from 1815 to 1820, resided on the property of the late Julien Chouinard, at the corner of St. Peter and Sous-le-Fort streets. He combined parliamentary duties, it seems, with a sea-faring life, being styled "Capitaine de Bâtiment" in a power of attorney before Martin A. Dumas, N.P., at Quebec, dated 9th September, 1796, in which as attorney and agent for Revd. "Messire Louis Payet, prêtre, curé de la paroisse de St. Antoine, au Nord de la Rivière Richelieu," he sells to Monsieur Thomas Lee, later on an M.P.P., his negro slave, named Rose, for the sum of "500 livres et vingt sols,"—about $100 of our currency. The traffic in human flesh became extinct in Canada in 1803 by legislative enactment. The bluest blood of our Southern neighbours was shed to keep it up in the model Republic sixty years subsequently. [102] In the space between the Queen's wharf and the jetty on the west, belonging to the Imperial authorities and called the king's wharf, there existed a bay or landing place, much prized by our ancestors, which afforded a harbour for the coasting vessels and small river crafts, called the "Cul-de-Sac." There, also, the ships which were overtaken by an early winter lingered until the sunny days of April released them from their icy fetters. There the ships were put into winter quarters, and securely bedded on a foundation or bed of clay; wrecked vessels also came hither to undergo repairs. The Cul-de-Sac, with its uses and marine traditions, had, in by-gone days, an important function in our incomparable sea-port. In this vicinity, Vaudreuil, in 1759, planted a battery.

The old Custom House (now the Department of Marine), was built on this site in 1833. In 1815 the Custom House was on McCallum's wharf. The Cul-de-Sac recalls "the first chapel which served as a Parish Church at Quebec," that which Champlain caused to be built in the Lower Town in 1615, where the name of Champlain is identified with the street which was bounded by this chapel. The Revd. Fathers Récollets there performed their clerical functions up to the period of the taking of Quebec by the brothers Kertk, that is from 1615 to 1629, (Laverdière.)

Nothing less than the urgent necessity of providing the public with a convenient market-place, and the small coasting steamers with suitable wharves, could move the municipal authorities to construct the wharves now existing, and there, in 1856, to erect out of the materials of the old Parliament House, the spacious Champlain Hall, so conspicuous at present. The king's wharf and the king's stores, two hundred and fifty feet in length, with a guard house, built on the same site in 1821, possess also their marine and military traditions. The "Queen's Own" volunteers, Capt. Rayside, were quartered there during the stirring times of 1837-38, when "Bob Symes" dreamed each night of a new conspiracy against the British crown, and M. Aubin perpetuated, in his famous journal "Le Fantasque" the memory of this loyal magistrate.

How many saucy frigates, how many proud English Admirals, have made fast their boats at the steps of this wharf! Jacques Cartier, Champlain, Nelson, Bourgainville, Cook, Vauclain, Montgomery, Boxer, Sir Rodney Mundy, poor Captain Burgoyne, of the ill-fated iron-clad Captain, Sir Leopold McClintock, [103] have, one after the other, trodden over this picturesque landing place, commanded as it is by the guns of Cape Diamond. Since about a century, the street which bears the venerated name of the founder of Quebec, Champlain street, unmindful of its ancient Gallic traditions, is almost exclusively the headquarters of our Hibernian population. An ominous-looking black-board, affixed to one of the projecting rocks of the Cape, indicates the spot below where one of their countrymen, Brigadier-General Richard Montgomery, with his two aides- de-camp, Cheeseman and McPherson, received their death wounds during a violent snow storm about five o'clock in the morning, the 31st December, 1775. On this disastrous morning the post was guarded by Canadian militiamen, Messieurs Chabot and Picard. Captain Barnesfare, an English mariner, had pointed the cannon; Coffin and Sergeant Hugh McQuarters applied the match. At the eastern extremity, under the stairs, now styled "Breakneck Steps," according to Messrs. Casgrain and Laverdière, was discovered Champlain's tomb, though a rival antiquary, M. S. Drapeau, says that he is not certain of this. [104]

A little to the west is Cap Blanc, inhabited by a small knot of French- Canadians and some Irish; near by, was launched in October, 1750, the Orignal, a King's ship, built at Quebec; at that period the lily flag of France floated over the bastions of Cape Diamond; the Orignal, in being launched, broke her back and sank. Among the notabilities of Cap Blanc, one is bound to recall the athletic stevedore and pugilist, Jacques Etienne Blais. Should the fearless man's record not reach remote posterity, pointing him out as the Tom Sayers of Cap Blanc, it cannot fail to be handed down as the benefactor of the handsome new church of Notre Dame de la Garde, erected on the shore in 1878, the site of which was munificently given by him on the 17th June, 1877. Jacques Blais, now (1881) very aged, though still vigorous, in his best days by his prowess re-called that prince of Quebec raftsmen so graphically delineated by Chas Lanman.

Champlain street stretches nearly to Cap Rouge, a distance of six miles. During the winter the fall of an avalanche from the brow of the Cape on the houses beneath is a not unfrequent occurrence. In former years, in the good time of ship-building, the laying the keel of a large vessel in the ship-yards often brought joy to the hearts of the poor ship-carpenters; many of whose white, snug cottages are grouped along the river near by.

Except during the summer months, when the crews of the ships, taking in cargo alongside the booms, sing, fight and dance in the adjacent "shebeens," the year glides on peacefully. On grand, on gala days, in election times, some of the sons of St. Patrick used to perambulate the historical street, flourishing treenails, or shillaleghs—in order to preserve the peace!!! of course. To sum up all, Champlain street has an aspect altogether sui generis.

A QUEBEC PORTRAIT

(From the ATLANTIC MONTHLY.)

"Physical size and grand proportions are looked upon by the French- Canadians with great respect. In all the cases of popular émeutes that have from time to time broken out in Lower Canada, the fighting leaders of the people were exceptional men, standing head and shoulders over their confiding followers. Where gangs of raftsmen congregate, their 'captains' may be known by superior stature. The doings of their 'big men' are treasured by the French-Canadians in traditionary lore. One famous fellow of this governing class is known by his deeds and words to every lumberer and stevedore and timber- tower about Montreal and Quebec. This man, whose name was Joe Monfaron, was the bully of the Ottawa raftsmen. He was about six feet six inches high, and proportionally broad and deep; and I remember how people would turn round to look after him, as he came pounding along Notre Dame street, in Montreal, in his red shirt and tan-colored shupac boots, all dripping wet, after mooring an acre or two of raft, and now bent for his ashore haunts in the Ste. Marie suburb, to indemnify himself with bacchanalian and other consolations for long- endured hardship. Among other feats of strength attributed to him, I remember the following, which has an old, familiar taste, but was related to me as a fact:

"There was a fighting stevedore or timber-tower, I forget which, at Quebec, who had never seen Joe Monfaron, as the latter seldom came farther down the river than Montreal. This fighting character, however, made a custom of laughing to scorn all the rumors that came down on rafts, every now and then, about terrible chastisements inflicted by Joe upon several hostile persons at once. He, the fighting timber-tower, hadn't found his match yet about the lumber coves at Quebec, and he only wanted to see Joe Monfaron once, when he would settle the question as to the championship of rafts, on sight. One day a giant in a red shirt stood suddenly before him, saying—

"'You're Dick Dempsey, eh?'

"'That's me.' replied the timber-tower, 'and who are you?'

"'Joe Monfaron. I heard you wanted me—here I am,' was the Caesarean answer of the great captain of rafts.

"'Ah! you're Joe Monfaron!" said the bully, a little staggered at the sort of customer he saw before him. 'I said I'd like to see you, for sure, but how am I to know you're the right man?'

"'Shake hands first,' replied Joe, 'and then you will find out, may be.'

"They shook hands—rather warmly, perhaps, for the timber-tower, whose features wore an uncertain expression during the operation, and who at last broke out into a yell of pain, as Joe cast him off with a defiant laugh. Nor did the bully wait for any further explanations, for, whether the man who had just brought the blood spouting out at the tops of his fingers was Joe Monfaron or not, he was clearly an ugly customer, and had better be left alone.

The St. Lawrence, its rafts of timber, raftsmen, voyageurs and their songs, are pleasantly alluded to by a sympathetic French writer of note, X. Marmier, [105] who visited Canada some thirty years ago:

"On the St. Lawrence, traversed by steamboats, by vessels heavily laden, and by light bark canoes, we may see early in the season immense rafts of timber that are brought down from the dense northern forests, hewn where they are felled, drawn to the rivers upon the snow, and made up into rafts. The Canadian crews erect masts and spread their sails, and by the aid of wind and current, and sometimes by rowing, they boldly guide these acres of fir down the rapids to Quebec, while they animate their labours with the melody of their popular songs. A part would intone the Canadian song

"A la Claire Fontaine,"

while the others, repeating the last two lines, would at the same time let drop their oars as those of the former arose.

"There is probably no river on earth that has heard so many vows of love as the St. Lawrence; for there is not a Canadian boatman that has ever passed up or down the river without repeating, as the blade of his oar dropped into the stream, and as it arose, the national refrain.

"Il y a longtemps que je t'aime,
Jamais je ne t'oublierai!"

"Long time have I loved thee,
Never will I forget thee!"

"And I will here say that there is a harmonious sweetness in these simple words, that well accords with the simple yet imposing character of the scenery of this charming region.

"Upon our coquettish rivers in Europe they may whisper of loves along their flowery banks and under the vine-clad terraces that overhang them, like the curtains of a saloon; but here, in this grand severity of nature, upon these immense, half desert plains, in the silence of these gloomy forests, on the banks of this majestic river that is ever speeding onward to the eternal ocean, we may feel emotions that are truly sublime. If, in this quiet solitude, should we open the soul to a dream of love, it takes the serious tone; it needs must be a pure being that dares to breathe to the heavens and to the waves these sacred words, 'I love thee,' and that can add the promise and the pledge of the Canadian song:

"Jamais je ne t'oublierai."
"Ne'er will I forget thee!" [106]

Among the streets of Quebec, most celebrated in our annals by reason of the incidents which attach thereto, one may name the frowsy and tortuous highway which circulates from the foot of Mountain Hill, running for a distance of two hundred feet below the Cape, up to the still narrower pathway which commences west of St. James street and leads to the foot of the hill "de la canoterie;" [107] all will understand we mean the leading commercial thoroughfare of olden time, [108] Sault-au-Matelot street. Is it because a sailor, no doubt only partially relieved from the horrors of sobriety, there made a wild leap? or are we to attribute the name to the circumstance of a dog named "Matelot" ("Sailor") there taking a leap? [109] Consult Du Creux. Our friend, Joseph Marmette, appropriated it for the reception of his hero, "Dent de Loup," who escaped without broken bones after his leap. [110]

The western portion of the still narrower pathway of which we have just spoken, rejoices in the name of "Ruelle des Chiens," (Dog Lane); [111] the directories name it Sous-le-Cap street. It is so narrow that, at certain angles, two carts passing in opposite directions, would be blocked. Just picture to yourself that up to the period of 1816, our worthy ancestors had no other outlet in this direction at high water to reach St. Roch, (for St. Paul street was constructed subsequently to 1816, as M. de Gaspé has informed us.) Is it not incredible? As, in certain passes of the Alps, a watchman no doubt stood at either extremity of this lane, provided with a speaking trumpet to give notice of any obstruction and thus prevent collisions. This odoriferous locality, especially during the dog-days, is rather densely populated. The babes of Green Erin, with a sprinkling of young Jean Baptistes, here flourish like rabbits in a warren. Miss Kitty Ellison and her friend. Mr. Arbuton, in their romantic wanderings, were struck with the mise en scène of Dog Lane:—

"Now that Prescott Gate, by which so many thousands of Americans have entered Quebec since Arnold's excursionists failed to do so, is demolished, there is nothing left so picturesque and characteristic as Hope Gate (alas! since razed), and I doubt if anywhere in Europe there is a more mediaeval-looking bit of military architecture. The heavy stone gateway is black with age, and the gate, which has probably never been closed in our century, is of massive frame, set thick with mighty bolts and spikes. The wall here sweeps along the brow of the crag on which the city is built, and a steep street drops down, by stone-parapeted curves and angles, from the Upper to the Lower Town, when, in 1775, nothing but a narrow lane bordered the St. Lawrence. A considerable breadth of land has since been won from the river, and several streets and many piers now stretch between this alley and the water, but the old Sault-au-Matelot still crouches and creeps along under the shelter of the city wall and the overhanging rock, which is thickly bearded with weeds and grass, and trickles with abundant moisture. It must be an ice pit in winter, and I should think it the last spot on the continent for the summer to find; but when the summer has at last found it, the old Sault-au-Matelot puts on a vagabond air of southern leisure and abandon, not to be matched anywhere out of Italy. Looking from that jutting rock near Hope Gate, behind which the defeated Americans took refuge from the fire of their enemies, the vista is almost unique for a certain scenic squalor and gypsy luxury of colour—sag-roofed barns and stables, and weak-backed, sunken- chested workshops of every sort, lounge along in tumble-down succession, and lean up against the cliff in every imaginable posture of worthlessness and decrepitude, light wooden galleries cross to them from the second stories of the houses which back upon the alley, and over these galleries flutters from a labyrinth of clothes-lines a variety of bright-coloured garments of all ages, sexes and conditions, while the footway underneath abounds in gossiping women, smoking men, idle poultry, cats, children, and large, indolent Newfoundland dogs." —(A Chance Acquaintance, p, 175.)

Adventurous tourists who have risked themselves there in the sultry days of July, have found themselves dazed at the sight of the wonders of the place. Among other indigenous curiosities, they have there noticed what might be taken for any number of aerial tents, improvised no doubt as protection from the scorching rays of a meridian sun. Attached to ropes stretched from one side of the public way to the other, was the family linen, hung out to dry. When shaken by the wind over the heads of the passers-by, these articles of white under-clothing (chemisettes), flanked by sundry masculine nether-garments, presented a tableau, it is said, in the highest degree picturesque. As regards ourselves, desirous from our earliest days to search into the most recondite arcana of the history of our city and to portray them in all their suggestive reality, for the edification of distinguished tourists from England, France and the United States, it has been to us a source of infinite mortification to realize that the only visit which we ever made to Dog Lane was subsequent to the publication of the Album du Touriste; a circumstance which explains the omission of it from that repository of Canadian lore. Our most illustrious tourists, [112] the eldest son of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, his brothers, the Princes Alfred and Arthur, the Dukes of Newcastle, of Athol, of Manchester, of Beaufort, of Argyle, of Sutherland, Generals Grant and Sherman, and Prince Napoleon Bonaparte, it is said, took their leave of Quebec without having visited that interesting locality, "la Ruelle des Chiens," Sous-le-Cap street, probably unconscious of its very existence! Nevertheless, this street possesses great historical interest. It has re-echoed the trumpet sounds of war, the thundering of cannon, the briskest musketry; there fell Brigadier-General Arnold, wounded in the knee: carried off amid the despairing cries of his soldiers, under the swords of Dambourgès, of the fierce and stalwart Charland, of the brave Caldwell, followed by his friend Nairn and their chivalrous militiamen. Our friends, the annexationists of that period, were so determined to annex Quebec, that they threw themselves as if possessed by the evil one upon the barriers (there were two of them) in Sous-le-Cap street and in Sault-au-Matelot street; each man, says Sanguinet, wearing a slip of paper on his cap on which was written "Mors aut Victoria," "Death or Victory!" One hundred years and more have elapsed since this fierce struggle, and we are not yet under Republican rule!

A number of dead bodies lay in the vicinity, on the 31st December, 1775; they were carried to the Seminary. Ample details of the incidents of this glorious day will be found in "QUEBEC PAST AND PRESENT." It is believed that the first barrier was placed at the foot of the stone demi-lune, where, at present, a cannon rests on the ramparts; the second was constructed in rear of the present offices of Mr. W. D. Campbell, N.P., in Sault-au-Matelot street.

Sault-au-Matelot street has lost the military renown which it then possessed; besides the offices of M. Ledroit, of the Morning Chronicle, and of the timber cullers, it now is a stand for the carters, and a numerous tribe of pork merchants, salmon preservers and coopers, whose casks on certain days encumber the sidewalks.

St. Paul street does not appear on the plan of the city of Quebec of 1660, reproduced by the Abbé Faillon. This quarter of the Lower Town, so populous under the French _régime, and where, according to Monseigneur de Laval, there was, in 1661, "magnus numerus civium" continued, until about 1832, to represent the hurry-scurry of affairs and the residences of the principal merchants, one of the wealthiest portions of the city. There, in 1793, the father of our Queen, Colonel of the 7th Fusiliers, then in garrison at Quebec, partook of the hospitality of M. Lymburner, one of the merchant princes of that period. Was the chère amie, the elegant Baronne de St. Laurent, of the party? We found it impossible to ascertain this from our old friend, Hon. William Sheppard, of Woodfield, near Quebec (who died in 1867), from whom we obtained this incident. Mr. Sheppard, who had frequently been a guest at the most select drawing-rooms of the ancient capital, was himself a contemporary of the generous and jovial Prince Edward.

The Sault-au-Matelot quarter, St. Peter street, and St. James street, down to the year 1832, contained the habitations of a great number of persons in easy circumstances; many of our families of note had their residences there: John Wm. Woolsey, Esq., in 1808, and later on first President of the Quebec Bank; the millionaire auctioneer, Wm. Burns, the god-father to the late George Burns Symes, Esq.; Archbishop Signai—this worthy prelate was born in this street, in a house opposite to La Banque Nationale. Evidences of the luxuriousness of their dwelling rooms are visible to this day, in the panelling of some doors and in decorated ceilings.

Drainage, according to the modern system, was, at that period, almost unknown to our good city. The Asiatic cholera, in 1832, decimated the population: 3,500 corpses, in the course of a few weeks, had gone to their last resting place. This terrible epidemic was the occasion, so to speak, of a social revolution at Quebec; the land on the St. Louis and Ste. Foye roads became much enhanced in value; the wealthy quitted the Lower Town. Commercial affairs, however, still continued to be transacted there, but the residences of merchants were selected in the Upper Town or in the country parts adjacent.

The Fief Sault-au-Matelot, which at present belongs to the Seminary, was granted to Guillaume Hébert on the 4th February, 1623, the title of which was ratified by the Due de Ventadour on the last day of February, 1632. On the ground reclaimed from the river, about 1815, Messrs. Munro and Bell, eminent merchants, built wharves and some large warehouses, to which lead "Bell's lane," (so named after the Honorable Matthew Bell) [113] the streets St. James, Arthur, Dalhousie and others. Mr. Bell, at a later period, one of the lessees of the St. Maurice Forges, resided in the house—now St. Lawrence Chambers—situate at the corner of St. James and St. Peter streets, now belonging to Mr. John Greaves Clapham, N. P. Hon. Matthew Bell commanded a troop of cavalry, which was much admired by those warlike gentlemen of 1812—our respected fathers. He left a numerous family, and was related by marriage to the families Montizambert, Bowen, &c. Dalhousie street, in the Lower Town, probably dates from the time of the Earl of Dalhousie (1827), when the "Quebec Exchange" was built by a company of merchants. The extreme point of the Lower Town, towards the northeast, constitutes "La Pointe à Carcy," named after Carcy Pagès, who succeeded to the office of "Guardian of the Harbor," held in 1713 by Louis Pratt. In the offing is situated the wharf, alongside of which the stately frigate Aurora, Captain De Horsey, passed the winter of 1866-7. The wharves of the Quebec docks now mark the spot.

The expansion of commerce at the commencement of the present century and increase of population rendered it very desirable that means of communication should be established between the Lower Town and St. Roch, less rugged and inconvenient than the tunnel—Sous-le-Cap lane—and the sandy beach of the river St. Charles at low water. Towards 1816 the northern extremity of St. Peter street was finished, it was previously bounded by a red bridge, well remembered by our very old citizens. The Apostle St. Paul was honoured with a street, as was his colleague, St. Peter. Messrs. Benj. Tremaine, Budden, Morrisson, Parent, Allard and others acquired portions of ground on the north side of this (St. Paul) street, upon which they have erected wharves, offices and large warehouses. Renaud's new block now occupies a portion of the site.

The construction of the North Shore Railway will have the effect, at an early date, of augmenting, in a marked degree, the value of these properties, the greater portion of which now belong to our fellow citizen, M. J. Bte Renaud, who has adorned this portion of the Lower Town with first class buildings. Let us hope that this quarter may flourish, and that our enterprising fellow citizen may prosper in consequence.

Let us join a party of distinguished strangers wending their way through our muddy streets, following a titled tourist, His Highness the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. This noble visitor's rank seems to have been fully recognized, since he was escorted by a guard of honour furnished by the Lt.-Governor, and saluted on his departure by 21 guns. After fifty-five years, the Duke's utterances have yet interest for us, though he seems to have judged harshly the absent Governor-General, the Earl of Dalhousie. [114]

"About eight o'clock in the evening of the 3rd of September, 1825, we embarked at Montreal on board the steamer Lady Sherbrooke for Quebec. The banks, which as far as Trois Rivières are pretty low, become higher and more rocky, particularly on the left side. The neighborhood is remarkably handsome and picturesque. The majestic stream with its pleasant banks, and the view of the distant blue mountains near Quebec, produce an indescribable effect. The weather was favourable,—a clear, sunny sky and not very warm; in this northern latitude you can perceive the approaching autumn by the coolness of the nights and mornings. We reached Quebec at 10 o'clock in the evening. This city consists of two parts, the Upper Town, which is built on a rock, and the Lower, which is pressed in between the river and the rock. The lights in the Lower Town and the fortifications had an elegant appearance, when contrasted with the dark rock. The first coup d'oeil, which was by night, reminded me of Namur, as it is seen from the right bank of the Maas. In the river were many vessels; mostly used for carrying wood. It was already late, and we should have found difficulty in transporting our baggage by night, besides other inconveniences in finding lodgings for the ladies, so we spent the second night also on board the steamboat, where we were very comfortable and found it cleanly.

"The next morning, after dismissing the guard which the Governor appointed to escort us, we went to our lodgings in the upper part of the town. The lower town is very narrow, and has a filthy appearance. The streets are not paved, and badly provided with sidewalks. The road which leads to the upper part of the town is very steep. It stands on a rocky ground, and its fortifications are elevated 300 feet from the level of the ocean. The upper is separated from the lower town by a stone wall, which has the form of a horn-work. Through this wall is a gate, [115] which has a guard; the guard-room is opposite the gate, and by means of a portcullis defends the entrance. For the convenience of foot-passengers there is a door [116] near the gate, with wooden stairs, by ascending which you reach the upper town. On the right of the gate is a building which resembles a chapel, [117] and serves for the House of Commons of Canada. In order to get home we were obliged to go round part of the walls of the town. Even here you have an indescribably beautiful view of the Bay of Quebec and the right bank of the river, which has the appearance of a cape, called Point Levi.

"Shortly after our arrival, I received a visit from Colonel Duchesnay, First Adjutant of the Governor-General, and from [118] Colonel Durnford, Director of Engineers. The first gentleman came to bid me welcome in the name of the Governor, and the latter begged to show me the fortifications. Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of all British possessions in North America, was at that time in England, but was expected daily. During his absence, the Government was under the direction of the Lt.-Governor, Sir Francis Barton, brother of Lord Conyngham. He is a civilian, but is said to fill his high post with credit. The good spirit the inhabitants are in, and the harmony that exists in the colony, are mostly owing to his good management and his humane and friendly deportment towards them. It is said of Lord Dalhousie that he has estranged the hearts of the people from himself and the Government, through his haughty and absolute deportment, and the Opposition party in the Canadian Parliament has thereby been strengthened.

"The upper part of the town is very old and angular, the streets are muddy, and many not paved. Both towns contain about 25,000 inhabitants. The Catholic Cathedral is quite a handsome building, it has three altars, and paintings of but little value. It is near the Seminary, an old French building, with massive walls, having four corners like a bastion. In this Seminary resides the Bishop of Quebec. We had already been introduced to Bishop Plessis, in the house of Sir Francis Burton, and found him a very agreeable and well-informed man. He is the son of a butcher of Montreal, and has elevated himself by his own merit.

"On the second and last day of my sojourn in Quebec I went to the parade, escorted by Colonels Durnford and Duchesnay. I was pleasantly taken by surprise when I found the whole garrison under arms. The commanding officers wished to show me their corps. On the right wing stood two companies of artillery, then a company of sappers and miners, after this, the Sixty-Eighth, and lastly, the Seventy-First Regiment of Infantry. The last is a light regiment, and consists of Scotch Highlanders; it appeared to be in particularly good condition. This regiment is not dressed in the Highland uniform, which was only worn by some of the buglemen. It has a very good band of buglemen, who wear curious caps, made of blue woollen, bordered below with red and white stripes. The troops defiled twice before me.

"On the 6th of September we set out in the steamboat for Montreal. Sir Francis sent us his carriage, which was very useful to the ladies. On the dock stood a company of the Sixty-Fifth Regiment, with their flags displayed as a guard of honour, which I immediately dismissed. The fortifications saluted us with 21 guns; this caused a very fine echo from the mountains. Night soon set in, but we had sufficient light to take leave of the magnificent vicinity of Quebec."

St. Vallier street is sacred to Monseigneur de St. Vallier; his name is identified with the street which he so often perambulated in his visits to the General Hospital, where he terminated his useful career in 1729. His Lordship seems to have entertained a particular attachment for the locality where he had founded this hospital, where he resided, in order to rent his Mountain Hill Palace to Intendant Talon, and thus save the expense of a chaplain. The General Hospital was the third asylum for the infirm which the Bishop had founded. Subsequently, came the Intendant de Meules, who, toward 1684, endowed the eastern portion of the quarter with an edifice (the Intendant's Palace) remarkable for its dimensions, its magnificence and its ornate gardens.

Where Talon (a former Intendant) had left a brewery in a state of ruin and about seventeen acres of land unoccupied, Louis XIV., by the advice of his Intendant de Meules, lavished vast sums of money in the erection of a sumptuous palace, in which French justice was administered, and in which, at a later period, under Bigot, it was purchasable. Our illustrious ancestors, for that matter, were not the kind of men to weep over such trifles, imbued as they were from infancy with the feudal system and all its irksome duties, without forgetting the forced labour (corvées) and those admirable "Royal secret warrants," (lettres de cachet). What did the institutions of a free people, or the text of Magna Charta signify to them?

On this spot stood the notorious warehouse, where Bigot, Cadet and their confederates retailed, at enormous profits, the provisions and supplies which King Louis XV. doled out in 1758 to the starving inhabitants of Quebec. The people christened the house "La Friponne," (The Cheat!!) Near the sight of Talon's old brewery which had been converted into a prison by Frontenac, and which held fast, until his trial in 1674, the Abbé de Fénélon [119] now stands the Anchor Brewery (Boswell's).

We clip the following from an able review in the Toronto Mail, Dec., 1880, of M. Marmette's most dramatic novel, "l'Intendant Bigot":

"In the year 1775 a grievous famine raged, sweeping off large numbers of the poor, while the unscrupulous Bigot and his satellites were revelling in shameless profligacy. It is midnight of Christmas, when an old officer, M. de Rochebrune, pressed with cold and hunger to the last point, resolved to pawn his St. Louis Cross of gold at the Intendant's Palace stores. On the way thither the officer and his young daughter, a young girl of fourteen, are startled at the blaze of light illuminating the Palace windows, during one of the Intendant's festivals. The pleasures of the evening are suddenly interrupted and shaded by the entry of the aged, suffering M. de Rochebrune and his wan-visaged but beautiful daughter. Words of galling truth are addressed to Bigot before his painted courtezans and his other depraved attendants, whose hearts are too hard and whose consciences are too seared to be tortured by either misery or reproof, and the ruffian varlets eject both father and daughter to the furies of the midnight blast. The ball ended, Bigot leads Madame de Pean to her vehicle, when she tumbles over an object which, when torches are brought, was found to be the corpse of the suppliant rebuker of a few hours previous, alongside of which lay the unconscious form of his daughter, half buried in the drifting snow. 'Mon Dieu,' exclaimed Madame de Pean, 'Il ne dormira pas de la nuit, c'est bien sûr.' This tragic event is narrated with thrilling effect, in the author's best style." P. B.

In a paper read by us before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, 3rd December, 1879, we alluded in the following terms to the history of the "Friponne" and the infamous entourage of Intendant Bigot in the second part of our lecture: the first part related to Kalm's ramble round the city in 1749.

Prepare, now for other—dark—far less pleasant scenes. The bright sky of old Stadacona will rapidly lower; leaden clouds, pregnant with storms are hovering over head. The simplicity of early days is getting obsolete. Vice, gilded vice, flaunts in the palace. Gaunt famine is preying on the vitals of the people. 'Tis so at Versailles; 'tis so at Quebec. Lust—selfishness—rapine—public plunder everywhere—except among the small party of the Honnêtes Gens: [120] a carnival of pleasure, to be followed by the voice of wailing and by the roll of the muffled drum.

In 1748, the evil genius of New France, "La Pompadour's protégé" François Bigot, thirteenth and last Intendant, had landed at Quebec.

Born in Guienne, of a family distinguished at the bar, Bigot, prior to coming to Canada had occupied the high post of Intendant in Louisiana. In stature, he was small—but well formed;—active—full of pluck— fond of display and pleasure—an inveterate gambler. Had he confined his operations merely to trading, his commercial ventures would have excited little blame, trading having been a practice indulged in by several other high colonial officials. His salary was totally inadequate to the importance of his office, and quite insufficient to meet the expenditure his exalted position led him into. His speculations, his venality, the extortions practised on the community by his heartless minions: this is what has surrounded his memory with eternal infamy and made his name a by-word for scorn.

There existed, at Quebec, a ring composed of the Intendant's secretary, Deschenaux, of the Commissary General of Supplies, Cadet, of the Town-Major, Hugues Péan; of the Treasurer-General, Imbert. Péan was the Chief and Bigot the Great Chief of this nefarious association. Between Bigot and Péan, another link existed. Péan's favour at Court lay in the charms of his wife. Madame Péan, née Angélique De Meloises, was young, pretty, witty and charming; a fluent and agreeable speaker—in fact so captivating that François Bigot was entirely ruled by her during all his stay at Quebec. At her house in St. Louis street he spent his evenings; there, he was sought and found in May, 1759, by Col. de Bougainville returning from Paris, the bearer of the dispatches, announcing the coming struggle.

Would you like some of the pen-photographs which a clever French contemporary [121] has left of the corrupt entourage of the magnificent intendant, here are a few:

"Brassard Deschenaux, the son of a poor cobbler, was born at Quebec. A notary who boarded with Deschenaux, senior, had taught his son to read. Naturally quick and intelligent, young Deschenaux made rapid progress and soon found something to do in the office of Intendant Hocquart where Bigot found him and succeeded in having him appointed clerk in the Colonial Office at Quebec. Industrious, but at heart a sycophant, by dint of cringing he won the good graces of Bigot, who soon put unlimited trust in him, to that degree as to do nothing without Deschenaux's aid, but Deschenaux was vain, ambitious, haughty and overbearing and of such inordinate greed, that he was in the habit of boasting 'that to get rich he would even rob a church.'

"Cadet was the son of a butcher. In his youth he was employed to mind the cattle of a Charlesbourg peasant; he next set up as a butcher and made money. His savings, he invested in trade; his intriguing spirit brought him to the notice of the Intendant Hocquart, who gave him contracts to supply meat for the army. Deschenaux soon discovered that Cadet could be useful to him; he made him his friend and lost no opportunity to recommend him to the Intendant. He was accordingly often employed to buy the supplies for the subsistence of the troops. In verity, there were few men more active, more industrious, more competent to drive a bargain. The King required his services and secured them, by having Cadet named Commissary General. He had his redeeming points—was open-handed in his dealings—of a kindly nature and lavish even to excess."

The worthy Commissary General, like Péan, was blessed with a charming
wife, whom Panet's Diary styles "La Belle Amazone Aventurière."
Probably like her worthy spouse,—of low extraction; "elle n'était pas
sortie de la cuisse de Jupiter," to use a familiar French saw.

She certainly was not, like Caesar's wife "above suspicion." Madame
Cadet, later on, transferred her allegiance from the rich butcher
Cadet, to one "Sieur Joseph Ruffio";… but let us draw the veil of
oblivion over the short comings of another age.

"Capt. Hughes Péan, Chevalier de la Livaudière, was Town Major of Quebec, aide-Major des Troupes." He was not long in discovering that with an Intendant like Bigot, he could dare anything. Had he not without any trouble netted a gain of 50,000 half crowns? A large quantity of wheat was required for Government; he was charged with the purchase. There was a fat job in store for the Town Major. How was his master the Intendant to manage the matter for him? Bigot was a man of resource, who never forgot his friends. First, he provided Péan with a large sum out of the Treasury to buy the wheat as low as possible for cash; and then his complaisant council passed an order or Ordonnance fixing the price of grain much higher than that at which Péan had purchased. The town Major charged it to the Government at the rate fixed by the Ordonnance; the difference left him a handsome profit. He thought he would next try his hand at building coasting craft, which he could manage to keep constantly in commission for Government; this also was lucrative. Other devices, however, were resorted to; a secret partnership was entered into between Cadet and a person named Clavery, who shortly after become store-keeper at Quebec. Cadet was to purchase wheat in the parishes, have it ground at a mill he had leased, the flour to be sent abroad, secretly. Péan, too, had large warehouses built—at Beaumont some say. Cargoes of grain were thus secretly shipped to foreign ports in defiance of the law. Bréard, the Comptroller-General, for a consideration winked at these mal- practices, and from a poor man when he landed in Canada, he returned to France in affluent circumstances.

The crowning piece of knavery was the erection of a vast shop and warehouses near to the Intendant's Palace. Clavery had charge of this establishment, where a small retail business was carried on as a blind. The real object was to monopolize the trade in provisions and concentrate it here. Clavery was clerk to Estebe, Royal store-keeper at Quebec. In this warehouse were accumulated all such provisions and supplies as were wanted annually, and ordered from France for the King's stores at Quebec.

It was the practice of the Intendant to send each summer the requisitions to Paris. Bigot took care to order from France less supplies than were required, so as to have an excuse to order the remainder in times of want, at Quebec. The orders were sent to Clavery's warehouse, where the same goods were sold twice over, at increased rates. Soon the people saw through the deceit, and this repository of fraud was called in consequence La Friponne, "The Knave."

Want of space prevents me from crowding in photos of the other accomplished rogues, banded together for public robbery during the expiring years of French domination in Canada.

It is singular to note how many low-born [122] parasites and flatterers surrounded Bigot.

In 1755, the wheat harvest having failed, and the produce of former years having been carried out of Canada or else stored in the magazine of Bigot's ring, the people of Canada were reduced to starvation: in many instances they had to subsist on horse flesh and decayed codfish. Instead of having recourse to the wheat stored here, the Intendant's minions led him to believe that wheat was not so scarce as the peasantry pretended—that the peasants refused to sell it, merely in anticipation of obtaining still higher rates; that the Intendant, they argued, ought to issue orders, for domiciliary visits in the rural districts; and levy a tax on each inhabitant of the country, for the maintenance of the residents in the city, and of the troops.

Statements were made out, shewing the rations required to prevent the people from dying of hunger. Cadet was charged with the raising of this vexatious impost. In a very short time, he and his clerks had overrun the country, appropriating more wheat than was necessary. Some of the unfortunate peasants, who saw in the loss of their seed wheat starvation and death, loudly complained. A few called at the Intendant's Palace, but the heartless Deschenaux, the Intendant's Secretary, was ever on the watch and had them questioned by his employés, and when the object of their visit, was discovered, they were ushered into the presence of Deschenaux, who insulted them and threatened to have them imprisoned for thus presuming to complain to the Intendant. Bigot was afterwards advised of their visit, and when they appeared before him they were so maltreated and bullied that they left, happy in the fact that they had not been thrown into prison; soon, none dared to complain. Bread was getting scarcer every day. The Intendant had named persons to distribute the bread at the baker's shops, the flour being furnished by Government. The people crowded the bakeries on the days fixed; the loaves were taken by violence, mothers of families used to complain that they could not get any; they used occasionally to besiege the Intendant at his Palace with their lamentations and complaints, but it was of no avail, the Intendant was surrounded by a crowd of flatterers, who on retiring, gorged from his luxurious board, could not understand how the poor could die of hunger.

Land of my fathers reclaimed from barbarism at the cost of so much blood—so much treasure, bountifully provided with nobles—priests— soldiers—fortifications by the great Louis; sedulously—paternally watched over by Colbert and Talon: to what depth of despair, shall we say, degradation are thou sunk!

Proud old city, have you then no more defenders to put forth, in your supreme hour of woe and desertion! Has then that dauntless race of Gentilshommes Canadiens, d'Iberville—Ste. Hélène—de Bouville —de Bécancourt—de Repentigny, disappeared without leaving any successors!

And you stern old de Frontenac, you who replied so effectually to the invader through the mouth of your cannon, is your martial spirit quenched forever, in that loved fortress in which rest your venerated remains, you who at one time (1689) were ready, at the head of your Regulars and fighting Canadians, [123] to carry out the rash scheme, hatched by deCallières: the conquest of New York and destruction of the chief settlements in New England, a scheme which involved the dispersion of more than eighteen thousand people, as sixty-six years later (in 1755), a British Commander tore from their homes the peaceable Acadians of Grand-Pré. [124]

I could enlarge to any extent the gloomy picture which the history of this shameful period discloses. Two skilful novelists, the one in the English language, Wm. Kirby, [125] Esq., of Niagara, the other in the French, Joseph Marmette, [126] of Quebec, have woven two graphic and stirring historical romances, out of the materials which the career of the Intendant Bigot and the desertion of the colony in its hour of trial, by France—so abundantly supply. One redeeming trait, one flash of sunshine lights up the last hour of French domination: the devotion of the Canadian militia towards their oblivious mother- country, their dauntless courage at the Beauport engagement—after the battle of the Plains, 13th Sept., 1759—and at the battle of Ste. Foye, on the 28th April 1760, a day glorious to French arms, but at best a useless victory.

RUINS OF THE INTENDANT'S PALACE.

"It is the voice of years that are gone! they roll before me with all their deeds."—OSSIAN.

"'The descriptions, or perspective sketches,' says Mr. Walkem, 'according to the fancy or whim of the artist or the photographer, of what is left of the ruins, convey no adequate idea of its real capacity and magnitude in length, breadth or height. My present object, therefore, with your permission, is to supply this deficiency from plans and elevations drawn to a scale of feet about the year 1770—when some repairs were effected by the Military Engineers,—five years before its destruction in 1775. And more especially do I feel it my duty to submit this plan, &c., for publication since it has become part of the military history, not of Quebec only, but of Canada.

"The following is an extract from the Centenary report: 'This once magnificent pile was constructed under the French King's directions in 1684, under Intendant de Meules. It was burnt in 1712, when occupied by Intendant Bégon, and restored by the French Government. It became, from 1748 to 1759, the luxurious resort of Intendant Bigot and his wassailers. Under English rule it was neglected, and Arnold's men having, from the cupola, annoyed Guy Carleton's soldiers, orders were given to destroy it with the city guns.'

"'Skulking riflemen in St. Roch's, watching behind walls to kill our sentries, some of them fired from the cupola of the Intendant's Palace. We brought a nine-pounder to answer them.'—(Extract from a journal of an officer of the Quebec Garrison.)

"For those who may not be familiar with the meaning of the term 'Intendant,' and the official duties of his office, the following remarks are submitted from the most authentic sources. It was one of civil administration, direction management, superintendence, &c., and next to that of Governor-General, the office of Intendant was one of the greatest importance and celebrity in Quebec. It was established by the proclamation of the King of France in 1663,—creating a Sovereign Council for the affairs of the Colony—viz: the Governor-General, the Bishop, the Intendant and four Councillors, with an Attorney-General and Chief Clerk. The number of Councillors was afterwards increased to twelve.

"The authority of the Intendant, except in his executive capacity, was indeed little inferior to that of the Governor himself. He had the superintendence of four departments, viz: Justice, Police, Finance, and Marine.

The first intendant named under the proclamation of 1663 was M. Robert; but he never came to Canada to fill his office, and it was not till the summer of 1655 that Jean de Talon arrived at Quebec, as the first real Intendant, with the Viceroy deTracy, and the Carignan Regiment. The building in which the Sovereign Council first held their meetings would appear to have stood on the south side of Fabrique street westward (?) of the Jesuit College, known at that time as the 'Treasury.'

"During the Intendancy of M. de Meules, in 1684, that gentleman, at his own expense, endowed the eastern portion of the St. Roch's suburbs with an edifice henceforth known as the 'Intendant's Palace' ('Le Palais'), remarkable for its dimensions, magnificence and general appearance; it included also (according to old plans) about ten acres of land contained probably between St. Rochs and St. Nicholas streets, having the River St. Charles in front, and afterwards laid out in ornamental gardens. The Palace was described by La Potherie, in 1698, as consisting of eighty toises, or 480 feet of buildings, so that it appeared a little town in itself. The King's stores were also kept there.

"In 1712, Intendant Bégon, with a splendid equipage and retinue, arrived in Quebec from France, and took up his residence at the Palace. On the 5th of January, 1713, the entire building and premises unfortunately were destroyed by fire, and such was the rapidity of the flames that the Intendant and his wife escaped with great difficulty. Madame Bégon was obliged to break the panes of glass in her apartment before she had power to breathe. The young lady attendants were burned to death. The Intendant's valet de chambre, anxious to save some of his master's wardrobe, also perished in the flames. His Secretary, passing barefooted from the Palace to the river front, was so much frozen that he died in the Hospital of the Hôtel-Dieu a few days afterwards. [127]

"The Palace was afterward rebuilt under the direction of M. Bégon at the expense of His Majesty, and of which the plans and elevation now presented are presumed to be a correct and faithful illustration. The principal entrance appears to have been from that side next the cliff, opposite the 'Arsenal,'—or from the present line of St. Valier street—with large store buildings, magazines, &c., on either side of the entrance, and in the rear of that stood the building known as the 'Prison.' It would appear that La Potherie's remark, in 1698, of the first construction resembling a little town in itself, would also apply to the group of the second construction—as no less than twenty in number are shown on some of the old plans of this period. From sketches taken on the spot by an officer of the Fleet in Wolfe's expedition of 1759, and published in London two years afterwards, there can be little doubt, for want of room elsewhere, that the Palace was converted into barracks and occupied immediately after the surrender of Quebec by the troops under General Murray, and continued to be used as such until it fell into the hands of the American insurgents under Arnold, in 1775, and was destroyed by the cannon from the ramparts. The assumption is strengthened, if not confirmed, by the occupation of the Jesuit College as barracks the following year the amount of accommodation in both cases, a full regiment—would be the same; hence the comfortable quarters in the 'Palais' by the rebel force under Arnold, which would accommodate the most of his men.

"The appearance of this once celebrated structure in its general aspect was more imposing from its extent than from any architectural ornate embellishments. The style was the French domestic of that period, of two clear stories in height, the extreme frontage was 260 feet, with projecting wings at either end of 20 feet (vide plan), the depth from the front of the wings to the rear line 75 feet, and the central part 58 feet; the height from the site level to the apex of roof about 55 feet, and to the eaves line about 33 feet; in the basement there were no less than 9 vaults, 10 feet high to the crown of the arch running along the whole front, as shown in the elevation. The apartments in the two stories are divided longitudinally by a wall from one end to the other, and comprise altogether about 40 in number, allotted into barrack-rooms as per original military plans.

"The roof is plain and steep, and only broken by the pedimented wings at each end of the building, with chimney stacks and stone coping over the transverse fire walls, and otherwise relieved by a small octagonal cupola of two sections placed in the centre of the roof. The approach to the building in front is by two flights of steps, an enclosed porch forming a central feature to the main entrance; the basement windows are shewn in the elevation above the ground line. The walls were substantially built of black slate rock peculiar to Quebec and must have taken much time in the erection judging from its tenacity, and the hardness of the material still remaining. No doubt the walls, as was the practice in those days, were built of dry masonry, a few feet at a time, and then grouted with mortar in a thin semi-fluid state, composed of quicklime and fine sand poured into the interspaces of the stone-work, filling every cavity, excluding the air, and left to dry before commencing the next course. The wrought stone at the quoins and angles appear to have been quarried at Point-aux-Trembles, or more likely at Beauport, while the sides of the doors and windows were faced with hard Flemish brick, still intact, and beyond doubt imported directly from France. [128] The main store buildings in front, with vaults underneath, were undoubtedly built in the same compact manner, as Mr. Boswell, some years ago, in excavating for his brewery on the site of these stores, came in contact with the old foundation walls, so hard that powder had to be used for blasting. The mortar was found to be harder than stone, and a drill had but small effect upon it. That gentleman many years ago became the tenant of the war department for these ruins and vaults, and has roofed them in, taken care of the property and made improvements generally at his own expense. There is an old story current that a subterraneous passage, under the old ruins, led to the river. Others say that a passage communicated with the Upper Town. It is highly probable the old vaults and passage discovered by Mr. Boswell in the above excavation have been the origin of this story; for in one case towards the river it would be flooded at high water, and towards the Upper Town barred by a rampart of solid rock.

"From 1775 to the withdrawal of the Imperial troops in 1870-71— nearly a century,—this property was used specially for military purposes, and commonly known, as shown on old plan, as the King's Wood Yard, and more recently as the Commissariat Fuel Yard. The land several years ago was reduced in extent by the sale of building lots on the lines of St. Valier and St. Nicholas streets.

"At the beginning of this century, and many years afterwards, a military guard seems to have done duty at the 'Palais' and adjoining premises, east of St. Nicholas street, known as the Royal Dock Yard, King's Wharf, Stores, &c. This latter property extended eastward as far as La Canoterie, in front of a blockhouse, the site of the present Nunnery Bastion, and lying between what is now known as St. Charles street, or the foot of the cliff, and the high water mark on the north side, corresponding pretty nearly with the line of St. Paul street.

"The ruins of 'Le Palais' and accessories since 1775 were several times fitted up by the military authorities for stabling, fodder- sheds, wash-house, military stores, caretaker's quarters, &c., &c., and the vaults were leased for storing ice, wines and other liquors, and storage generally to the inhabitants of the city, and the roof was shingled or otherwise covered in on several occasions by the Government.

"In the great fire of St. Roch's (1845) the Fuel Yard, about four acres in extent, with some hundreds of cords of wood piled there, and a very large quantity of coals in a 'lean-to-shed' against the Palais walls were consumed—the coals continued to burn and smoulder for nearly six months,—and notwithstanding the solidity of the masonry, as already described, portions of it, with the heat like a fiery furnace, gave way. Upon this occasion an unfortunate woman and two children were burned to death in the Fuel Yard. Great efforts were made by Mr. Bailey, a commissariat officer, and Mr. Boswell, owner of the brewery, to save the lives of the victims, but unfortunately without success. These gentlemen, after their coats had been burned off their backs, and the hair from their heads and eyebrows, had to fly at last to save their own lives.

"On the withdrawal of the Imperial troops in 1870-71, the whole of 'Le
Palais' property was handed over to the Dominion Government.

"CHARLES WALKEM, "(Late R. E. Civil Service Staff in Canada.)
"Ottawa, 24th July, 1876."

Doubtless to the eyes of the "free and independent electors" of La Vacherie, in 1759, the Intendant's Palace seemed a species of "eighth wonder" The eighth wonder lost much of its éclat, however, by the inauguration of English rule, in 1759, but a total eclipse came over this imposing and majestic luminary when Guy Carleton's guns from the ramparts of Quebec began, in 1775, to thunder on its cupola and roof, which offered a shelter to Arnold's soldiery: the rabble of "shoemakers, hatters, blacksmiths and innkeepers," (says that savage old Tory, Colonel Henry Caldwell), bent on providing Canada with the blessings of Republicanism. A century and more has passed over the gorgeous Palace—now a dreary, moss- covered ruin, surrounded in rear by coarse grass, fallen stones: Bigot— his wassailers,—the fair but frail Madame de Pean, like her prototype of Paris, Madame de Pompadour, have all fleeted to the land of shadows; and tourists, high and low, still crowd to glance meditatively at those fast fading traces of a guilty past. It was in October, 1879, the special privilege of the writer to escort to these ruins one of our Sovereign's gentle and accomplished daughters, H.R.H. the Princess Louise, accompanied by H.E. Lord Lorne, as he had done the previous autumn with regard to the learned Dean of Westminster, Revd. A. P. Stanley: proud he was to think that though Quebec had no such attractions like antique, like classic England,—turretted castles, moated granges, or even

"Old pheasant Lords,
"Partridge breeders of a thousand years,"

—its romantic past was not without pleasing or startling or interesting memories.

We have just mentioned "La Vacherie", this consisted of the extensive and moist pastures at the foot of Coteau Sainte-Geneviève, extending towards the General Hospital, where the city cows were grazed; on this site and gracing the handsome streets "Crown" "Craig" and "Desfossés," can now be seen elegant dry-goods stores, vying with the largest in the Upper Town. Had St. Peter street, in 1775, been provided with a regular way of communication with St. Roch; had St. Paul street then existed, the sun of progress would have shone there nearly a century earlier.

"For a considerable time past, several plans of amelioration of the City of Quebec," says the Abbé Ferland, "were proposed to the Ministry by M. de Meules. The absolute necessity of obtaining a desirable locality for the residence of the Intendant, and for holding the sessions of the Council; the Château St. Louis being hardly sufficient to afford suitable quarters for the Governor and the persons who formed his household. M. de Meules proposed purchasing a large stone building which M. Talon had caused to be erected for the purpose of a brewery, and which, for several years, had remained unoccupied. Placed in a very commodious position on the bank of the river St. Charles, and not many steps from the Upper Town, this edifice, with suitable repairs and additions, might furnish not alone a desirable residence for the Intendant, but also halls and offices for the Supreme Council and the Courts of Justice, as likewise vaults for the archives and a prison for the criminals. Adjacent to the old brewery, M. Talon owned an extent of land of about seventeen superficial acres, of which no use was made in M. de Meules' plan; a certain portion of this land could be reserved for the gardens and dependencies of the Intendant's Palace, whilst the remainder might be portioned off into building lots (emplacements), and thus convert it into a second lower town, and which might some day be extended to the foot of the Cape. He believed that if this plan were adopted, the new buildings of Quebec would extend in that direction, and not on the heights almost exclusively occupied by the Religious Communities. [129]

We perceive, according to Mr. Panet's Journal, that Saint Roch existed in 1759; that the women and children, residents of that quarter, were not wholly indifferent to the fate of their distressed country. "The same day (31st July, 1759)," says Panet, "we heard a great uproar in the St. Roch quarter—the women and children were shouting, 'Long Live the King!'" [130] "I ascended the height (on the Coteau Ste. Geneviève) and there beheld the first frigate all in a blaze, very shortly afterwards a black smoke issuing from the second, which blew up and afterwards took fire." On the 4th August several bomb-shells of 80 lbs. fell on St. Roch. We read, that on the 31st August, two soldiers were hanged at three o'clock in the afternoon, for having stolen a cask of brandy from the house of one Charland, in the St. Roch quarter. In those times the General (or the Recorder) did not do things by halves. Who was, this Charland of 1759? Could he be the same who, sixteen years afterwards, fought so stoutly with Lieut. Dambourgès at the Sault-au-Matelot engagement? Since the inauguration of the English domination, St. Roch became peopled in a most rapid manner, we now see there a net-work of streets, embracing in extent several leagues.

The first steep hill past the Y. M. C. Association Hall—formerly Gallows Hill, (where the luckless David McLane was disembowelled, in 1797, for levying war against the King of Great Britain), and leading from St. John street without to that not over-straight thoroughfare, named after the second Bishop of Quebec—St. Vallier street—borrows its name from Barthélémy Coton, who in days of yore closed his career in Quebec at the advanced age of 92 years. Can anyone tell us the pedigree of Barthélémy Coton? To the French portion of the inhabitants it is known as Côte à Coton, whilst the English portion still continue to surround it, unopportunely we think, with the unhallowed traditions of a lugubrious past and call it Gallows Hill. Côte à Coton debouches into St. Vallier street, which on your way takes you to Scott's Bridge, over the Little River St Charles. Across St. Vallier street it opens on a rather magnificent street as to extent—Baronne street,—commemorating the souvenir of an illustrious family in colonial History, represented by Madame la Baronne de Longueuil, the widow of the third Baron, who had, in 1770, married the Honorable. Wm. Grant, the Receiver-General of the Province of Quebec, who lived at St. Rochs, and died there in 1805.

On M. P. Cousin's plan of Quebec, published in 1875, parallel to St. Vallier street to the south, and St. Fleurie street to the north, halfway between, is laid down Baronne street. The most ancient highway of the quarter (St. Roch) is probably St. Vallier street. "Desfossés" street most likely derives its name from the ditches (fossés) which served to drain the green pastures of La Vacherie. The old Bridge street dates from the end of the last century (1789). "Dorchester" street recalls the esteemed and popular administrator, Lord Dorchester, who, under the name of Guy Carleton, led on to victory the militia of Quebec in 1775.

"Craig" street received its name from Sir John Craig, a gouty, testy, but trusty old soldier, who administered the Government in 1807-9-10; it was enlarged and widened ten feet, after the great fire of 1845. The site of St. Paul's Market was acquired from the Royal Ordnance, on 31st July, 1831.

A former Quebecer writes:—

OTTAWA, 17th May, 1876.

"At the beginning of this century only eighty square-rigged vessels entered the Port of Quebec. There were then in Quebec only nine importers, and half a dozen master mechanics, one shipyard (John Black's, where one ship was launched each year), one printing office and one weekly paper.

"The tide then washed the rear walls of the houses on the north part of Sault-au-Matelot street. The only deep water wharves were Dunières, afterwards Brébaut's, Johnson & Purss', and the King's Wharf. There were no dwelling houses beyond Dunières' Wharf, but a few huts were built at the base of the cape. A black man was the solitary inhabitant on the beach, and all the way to Sillery the woods extended to the water's edge. A lease of this beach might then have been obtained for £50 a year.

"In St. Roch's Suburbs there was no house beyond the Manor House near the Intendant's Palace, save a few straggling ones in St. Vallier and St. Roch's streets. The site of the present Parish of St. Roch was mostly occupied by Grant's Mills, by meadows and farms.

"In St. John Suburbs there were only a few houses on St. John and St. George's streets and St. Louis Suburbs which, in 1775, contributed but three militia-men, viz—Jean Dobin, gardener, Jos. Proveau, carter, and Jacques Dion, mason, could boast of only one house, and the nearest one to it was Powell Place, Spencer Wood.

"On the St. Foy Road there was no house beyond the mineral well in St.
John Suburbs, until you came to the Haut Bijou—Mr. Stewart's. The
population of the city was then estimated at 12,000.

"I wonder if your friend Col. Strange is aware that his old friend
Sergt. Hugh McQuarters, of 1775 fame, was led captive to Hymen's altar
by the winning smiles and bright eyes of a belle Canadienne,
Mam'selle Victoire Fréchette. She died on the 12th October, 1812.

"Not having seen a copy of the address of Henri Taschereau, Esq., M.P. before the Canadian Institute on the American Invasion of '75, I am not aware if he alluded to the facet that Captain and Paymaster Gabriel Elzéar Taschereau took part in the 'l'affaire du Sault-au- Matelot.'

"Thus, by degrees, you see some little odds and ends of Quebec history are coming to light.

"I remain, "(Signed,) C. J. O'LEARY.

"J. M. LEMOINE, Esq."

In the present day the prolongation of the wharf has left no trace of it; the Station of the North Shore Railway covers a portion of this area.

"Church" street (la rue de l'Église), doubtless owes its name to the erection of the beautiful Saint Roch Church, towards 1812, the site of which was given by the late Honorable John Mure, who died in Scotland in 1823.

Saint Roch, like the Upper Town, comprises several Fiefs, proceeding from the Fief of the Seminary and reaching as far as the Gas Wharf; the beaches with the right of fishing belonged originally to the Hôtel-Dieu by a concession dated the 31st March, 1648, but they have since been conceded to others. The Crown possesses an important reserve towards the west of this grant; then comes the grant made, in 1814 or 1815, to the heirs of William Grant, now occupied by several ship-yards. Jacques Cartier who, in 1535-6, wintered in the vicinity of Saint Roch, left his name to an entire municipal division of this rich suburb, as well as to a spacious market hall. (The Jacques Cartier Market Hall.) The first secular priest, who landed in Quebec on the 8th August, 1634, and who closed his days in the Hôtel-Dieu on the 29th November, 1668, Jean le Sueur de Saint Sauveur, left his name to what now constitutes the populous municipality of Saint Sauveur. (Casgrain, Historie de l'Hôtel-Dieu, p. 81.)

On the spot on which the General Hospital Convent was erected, in 1691, the four first Franciscan Friars, Pères Jamay, D'Olbeau, LeCaron and Frère Pacifique Du Plessis, who had landed at Quebec on the 2nd June, 1615, soon set to work to erect the first Church, the first Convent and the first Seminary in New France, and on the 3rd June, 1620, Father d'Olbeau, in the absence of Father Jamay, the Superior of the Mission, placed the first stone of the church, under the name of Notre Dame des Anges, on the 25th May, 1625. This was on the bank of the river which Jacques Cartier had called the River Ste. Croix, because he had landed there on the 14th September, 1535, the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross: the Friars changed the name to that of St. Charles, in honor of "Monsieur Charles de Boues, Grand Vicaire de Pontoise," one of the most distinguished benefactors of their Order.

St. Vallier street, leading to ancient and Indian Lorette, over the Little River Road, at present so well built up and echoing to the shrill whistle of the Q. M. O. & O. Railway, until a few years back was a lone thoroughfare, beyond the toll-bar, lined with bare, open meadows. Here, also, has been felt the march of progress.

In the genial summer months passers-by are admonished by a pungent, not unhealthy, odor of tannin, an effluvia of tamarac bark, that tanners and curriers have selected their head-quarters in St. Vallier street. History also lends its attractions to the venerable thoroughfare.

Our forefathers would tell of many cosy little dinners, closed, of course, with whist or loo—of many recherché pic-nics in days of yore, kept up until the "sma' hours" at two renowned hostelries, only recently removed—the BLUE HOUSE and the RED HOUSE,—chiefly at that festive and crowning season of the year, when

"The snow, the beautiful snow,"

called forth the City Driving Club and its silvery, tinkling sleigh bells.

A steward—once famous as a caterer—on closing his term of service at the Château, with a departing Governor, more than a century back, was the Boniface at the Blue House: Alexandre Menut. A veritable Soyer was Monsieur Menut. During the American invasion, in the autumn of 1775, Monsieur Menut, owing to a vis major, was forced to entertain a rather boisterous and wilful class of customers: Richard Montgomery and his warlike Continentals. More than once a well-aimed ball or shell from General Carleton's batteries in the city must have disturbed the good cheer of the New York and New England riflemen lounging about Menut's, a great rebel rendezvous in 1775-6, we are told, visible from afar, [131] "with its white flag flying on the house.

Arnold's head-quarters being close to the St. Charles, where Scott's Bridge was since built, the intervening space between the city and the General Hospital was daily swept by Carleton's artillery. The Page Diaries abound with details of the casualties or narrow escapes of the invading host. A few quotations will suffice:

"8th December, 1775. Mr. (Brigadier-General) Montgomery visited Menut's to-day; a few minutes after he got out of the cariole, a cannon ball from the city walls killed his horse.

"18th December. Some shells were thrown in to-day, and we threw some into St. Roch's: very few of the enemy seen anywhere to-day. A man was shot through the head from St. Roch; would it were destroyed; it serves as a secure cover to the rebels.

"26th January, 1776. Eighty loaded sleighs passing towards Menut's. Two field-pieces placed at the door; people passing and repassing between that house and the General Hospital; some of our shots went through Menut's house; we fired a long time at that object; at last we perceived a man coming towards the town in a cariole, carrying the old signal; he passed their guard-house and waved with his handkerchief; we took no notice of him, but fired away at Menut's, he turned about and went back. … Perhaps, they find Menut's too hot for them.— (from Journal of an officer of the Quebec Garrison, 1775-6, quoted in Smith's History of Canada, Vol. II.)

"21st February, 1776. Fired at their guard-house and at Menut's.

"23rd February. About four this morning we heard the enemy's drum at Menut's, St. Foix. Sentries saw rockets in the night."

Prince Edward street, St. Roch, and "Donnacona" street, near the Ursulines, the latter thus named about 1840 by the late Rev. Messire Maguire, then Almoner of the Ursuline Convent, bring up the memory of two important personages of the past, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent, an English Prince, and Donnacona, a swarthy chief of primitive Canada, who welcomed Jacques Cartier.

The vanquisher of Montcalm, General Wolfe, is honoured not only by a statue, at the corner of Palace and St. John's streets, but again by the street which bears his name, Wolfe street. In like manner, his illustrious rival Montcalm claims an entire section of the city, "Montcalm Ward." Can it be that the susceptible young Captain of the Albemarle, Horatio Nelson, carried on his flirtation with the captivating Miss Mary Simpson, in 1782, in the street which now rejoices in his name?

NELSON IN QUEBEC—1782.

"C'est l'amour qui fait le tour de la ronde."—OLD SONG.

"Though the "Ancient Capital," ever since 1764, rejoiced in an organ of public opinion—a chronicle of daily events, fashions, city gossip, the Quebec Gazette,—one would look in vain, in the barren columns of that journal, for any intelligence of an incident, in 1782, which, from the celebrity in after-life of the chief actor, and the local repute of the reigning belle of the day, must have caused a flutter among the F. F. Q. of the period. We mean the tender attachment of Horatio (Lord) Nelson, commanding H. M. frigate Albemarle, 28 guns then in port,—his romantic admiration for Miss Mary Simpson, the youthful and accomplished daughter of Saunders Simpson (not "James," as Dr. Miles asserts), the cousin of James Thompson, Sr., one of Wolfe's veterans. Traditions, venerable by their antiquity, told of the charms divine, of the conquests of a marvellously handsome Quebec beauty in the latter part of the last century: the Catullus of 1783 thus begins his inspired lay in the Quebec Gazette of that year:

'Sure you will rather listen to my call,
Since beauty and Quebec's fair nymphs I sing.
Henceforth Diana in Miss S—ps—n see,
As noble and majestic is her air;
Nor can fair Venus, W—lc—s, vie with thee,
Nor all thy heavenly charms with thee compare.'

"It was our fate first to attempt to unravel the tangles of this attractive web. In the course of our readings, in 1865, our attention had been drawn to a passage in the life of Nelson by the Laureate of England, Robert Southey, [132] and enlarged on by Lamartine in the pleasant sketch he gave of the naval hero. Our investigations were aided by the happy memory of an old friend, now deceased: the late Lt.-Col. John Sewell, who had served in the 49th under General Brock, and whose birth was nearly contemporary with the visit of Nelson to our port in September, 1782. It was evident the chief biographers of the gifted sea captain ignored the details of his youthful attachment on our shores.

"'At Quebec,' says Southey, 'Nelson became acquainted with Alexander Davison, by whose interference he was prevented from making what would have been called an imprudent marriage. The Albemarle was about to leave the station, her Captain had taken leave of his friends, and was gone down the river to the place of anchorage; when the next morning, as Davison was walking on the beach, to his surprise he saw Nelson coming back in his boat. Upon inquiring the cause of his re- appearance, Nelson took his arm to walk towards the town, and told him he found it utterly impossible to leave Quebec without again seeing the woman whose society contributed so much to his happiness, and then and there offering her his hand.' 'If you do,' said his friend, 'your utter ruin must inevitably follow.' 'Then, let it follow,' cried Nelson; 'for I am resolved to do it.' 'And I,' replied Davison, 'am resolved you shall not.' Nelson, however, on this occasion was less resolved than his friend, and suffered himself to be led back to the boat.'

"This led us to prepare a short 'Novelette' on the subject in the Revue Canadienne, in 1867, subsequently incorporated in the Maple Leaves: amended and corrected as new light dawned upon us in the Tourists' Note Book, issued in 1876, and Chronicles of the St. Lawrence, published in 1878.

"Whether it was Alexander Davison, his tried friend in afterlife, as Southey suggests, or another Quebecer of note, in 1782, Matthew Lymburner, as Lt.-Col. John Sewell, on the faith of Hon. William Smith, the Historian of Canada, had stated to us, is of minor importance: one thing is certain, some thoughtful friend, in 1782, seems to have extricated the impulsive Horatio from the 'tangles of Neaera's hair' in the port of Quebec: the hand of fate had marked the future Captain of the Victory, not as the Romeo of a Canadian Juliet, but as the paramour of Lady Emma Hamilton. Alas! for his fair fame! It seems certain that the Commander of the Albemarle, during his repeated visits to our port, in July, September and October, 1782, became acquainted, possibly at some entertainment at Freemason's Hall,—the 'Windsor' of the period—with 'sweet sixteen' (he himself was but twenty-four) in the person of Miss Mary Simpson, the blooming daughter of an old Highlandman, Sandy Simpson, a cousin to Mr. James Thompson, then overseer of works, and father of the late Judge John Gwalor Thompson, of Gaspé, and of late Com.-General James Thompson, of Quebec. Sandy Simpson was an habitué of this historical and, for the period, vast old stone mansion where Captain Miles Prentice, [133] as he had been styled in 1775, hung out, with good cheer, the olive branch of Freemasonry and of loyalty to his Sovereign. The bonne société of Quebec, in 1782, was limited indeed: and it was not probable the arrival from sea of one of H.M.'s ships of war, the Albemarle, could escape the notice of the leading men in Quebec.

"If the Quebec Gazette of 1782 and Quebec Herald, published in 1789-90, contain no mention of this incident, several passages in the correspondence [134] exchanged by the Thompson family with the early love of Nelson, when she had become a stately London matron, as spouse of Colonel Matthews, Governor of the Chelsea Hospital, throw light on his previous career in Quebec.

"The question as to whether Nelson's charmer was Miss Prentice or her cousin, Mary Simpson, which we submitted in the Tourists' Note Book in 1876 (see pages 26 and 36), we had considered as settled, in 1878, in favour of Miss Simpson, as the following passage in the Chronicles of the St. Lawrence shows:

"Here anchored (Island of Orleans), it would seem, Nelson's sloop of war, the Albemarle, in 1782, when the love-sick Horatio returned to Quebec, for a last farewell from the blooming Miss Simpson, a daughter of Sandy Simpson, one of Wolfe's Provost Marshals. Miss Simpson afterwards married Colonel Matthews, Governor of the Chelsea Pensioners, and died speaking tenderly of her first love, the hero of Trafalgar.' (Chronicles of the St. Lawrence, p. 198.)

"This éclaircissement, as to dates, is not out of place, inasmuch as one of our respected historians, Dr. Hy. Miles, in a scholarly article, published March, 1879, three years after our mentioning Miss Simpson, labours under the idea he was the first to give her name in connection with Lord Nelson. Several inaccuracies occur in his interesting essay. Miss Simpson is styled the daughter of 'James' Simpson, whereas she was the daughter of Saunders Simpson, a cousin of James Thompson, who had married a niece of Miles Prentice. In a foot note appended to his essay the Doctor states that 'just before the departure of our late popular Governor-General (Lord Dufferin), at a breakfast at the Citadel, where His Excellency entertained the Captains of the British war vessels Bellerophon and Sirius (he means the Argus and the Sirius), then in port, at which we were present, the conversation having turned on former visits of commanders of ships-of-war, when, Nelson's name being brought up, the Earl remarked that Mr. LeMoine (then present) was able to afford some information about him.' 'Mr. LeMoine,' adds Dr. Miles, 'at His Excellency's request, related what he had previously written, much to the satisfaction of his hearers.' Mr. LeMoine's account of the affair, however, as it is based on the now exploded doctrine that the heroine was one of the nieces of Mrs. Miles Prentice, was not, as has been shown in the foregoing article, the correct one, however gratifying to the distinguished listeners to its recital on that occasion.'

"As the correctness of the information we were asked to impart on this occasion is impugned by the learned historian, we will, we hope, be pardoned for setting this point at rest. Dr. Miles has committed some egregious, though no doubt unintentional, error. The publication in our Tourist's Note Book, in 1876, of the name of Miss Simpson, in connection with Captain Nelson, three years before the appearance of Dr. Miles' essay, which was published in March, 1879, and its repetition, as previously shown, in the Chronicles of the St. Lawrence, issued in the beginning of the year 1878, can leave no doubt as to our knowledge of this incident, and disposes of the Doctor's statement. The name furnished by us was that of Miss Simpson, and no other. The breakfast in question took place on the 18th October, 1878: there were present Lord Dufferin, Mrs. Russell Stephenson, Mrs. J. T. Harrower, Very Rev. Dean Stanley, the Commander of H.M.S. the Sirius, Capt. Sullivan, the Captain of H.M.S. the Argus, Capt. Hamilton, A.D.C., and the writer."

Several streets in the St. Louis, St. John and St. Roch suburbs bear the names of eminent citizens who have, at different periods, made a free gift of the sites, or who, by their public spirit, have left behind them a cherished memory among the people, such as Berthelot, Massue, Boisseau, D'Artigny, Grey, Stewart, Lee, Buteau, Hudon, Smith, Salaberry, Scott, Tourangeau, Pozer [135], Panet, Bell, Robitaille, Ryland [136], St. Ours [137], Dambourgès [138]. Laval, Panet, Plessis, Séguin, Turgeon streets perpetuate the names of eminent Roman Catholic Bishops. Jerome street took this name from one of the ablest preceptors of youth the Quebec Seminary ever had—Messire Jerome Demers.

"Dorchester" Bridge was constructed in 1822, and took the place of the former bridge (Vieux Pont), on the street to the west, built by Asa Porter in 1789, and called after Lord Dorchester the saviour of Quebec. Saint Joseph street, St. Roch, was named after the eminent Roman Catholic prelate, Mgr. Joseph Octave Plessis, Bishop of Quebec, who, in 1811, built the church of St. Roch's suburbs, on land donated by a Presbyterian gentleman, John Mure, and dedicated it to St. Joseph, the patron saint of Canada. At one period it had a width of only twenty-five feet, and was widened to the extent of forty, through the liberality of certain persons. From the circumstance, the corporation was induced to continue it beyond the city limits up to the road which leads to Lorette, thereby rendering it the most useful and one of the handsomest streets of St. Roch.

At what period did the most spacious highway of the ward ("Crown" street, sixty feet in width), receive its baptismal name? Most assuredly it was previous to 1837, the democratic era of Papineau. "King" street, no doubt, recalls the reign of George III. So also does "Queen" street recall his royal Consort. The locality seems eminently favourable to monarchical belongings, to the House of Hanover in particular, judging from the names of several of its highways: Crown, King, Queen, Victoria, Albert, Prince of Wales, Alfred, Arthur, Prince Edward, &c.

Towards the year 1815, the late Honorable John Richardson, of Montreal, conferred his name on the street which intersects the grounds which Sir James Craig had, on the 15th March, 1811, conceded to him as Curator to the vacant estate of the late Hon. William Grant, [139] whose name is likewise bequeathed to a street adjacent, Grant street, while his lady, La Baronne de Longueuil, is remembered in the adjoining thoroughfare which intersects it. A Mr. Henderson, [140] about the commencement of the present century, possessed grounds in the vicinity of the present Gas Works, hence we have "Henderson" street. The Gas Company's wharf is built on the site of the old jetty of which we have seen mention made, about 1720. This long pier was composed of large boulders heaped one upon the other, and served the purpose of sheltering the landing place at the Palais harbour from the north-east winds. In 1750, Colonel Bouchette says, it served as a public promenade, and was covered by a public platform.

Ramsay street, parallel with Henderson street, leads from St. Paul street to Orleans Place, Place d'Orléans, recalling the Bourbon era, prior to 1759, and also the last French Commander of Quebec, Jean Bte. Nicholas Roche deRamezay. The historic Château deRamezay, on Notre Dame street, Montreal, now threatened with destruction, attests the sojourn in New France of a scion of the proud old Scotch house of Ramsay.—(Montreal Gazette, 3rd Feb., 1881.)

THE HARBOUR DOCKS

One of the most active promoters of this hopeful scheme, in recent times, was the Hon. Mr. Justice C. J. Tessier, when a member of the Corporation about 1850. A plan of the Harbour Works which he suggested was submitted to the Council. Nothing, however, was then done. The Legislature eventually assigned the work to the Harbour Commission Trust. The dredging commenced on May 2nd, 1877.

"The progress made with our Harbour Improvements, year by year, forms part of the history of our times, so far, at least, as the annals of this most ancient city of Quebec are concerned. The first stone of the Graving Dock at Levis was laid on Monday, the 7th June, 1880, by His Excellency the Governor-General, and the tablet stone, with the name of "Louise" graven on it, on Thursday, the 29th of July. Thenceforth the Harbour Works in the River St. Charles became "The Princess Louise Embankment and Docks," and the work in progress on the Levis or south side of the St. Lawrence "The Lorne Graving Dock," thus naming the entrance approaches to our cliff-bound city after our present popular Vice-Regal rulers."

To the address presented to His Excellency the Governor-General on this occasion, the following reply was made:—

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF THE QUEBEC HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS,—It is with a full sympathy for you in the hopes which have guided you to the construction of this great work that the Princess comes to-day to lay this stone, commemorating an important stage in the completion of your labours. She desires that her name, graven on this wall, shall serve to remind your citizens, as well as all who profit by the excellence of the accommodation here given to vessels of great burden, of her interest in your fortunes, and of her association with you in the speeding of an undertaking designed to benefit at once a great port of the new world and many of the communities of Europe.

Access to Quebec is easy now to the largest ocean-going vessels. Tour city has the railways far advanced, which will pierce to the heart of the granary of the world—the great wheat centres of the Canadian North-West. The very might and grandeur of the stream on which Quebec is built is in her favour as compared with other centres of commerce, for her visitors have but little tax to pay when a favouring wind fails them, while steam must be employed against the strong currents of the upper river.

The gigantic quays and the feeding lines of rail stretching inwards unbroken to the prairies must, in all human probability, in the future, ensure to the ancient capital a place among the most flourishing cities of the continent. Even without the aid which science is now bringing to her support look at the strides which have been made in her prosperity within the last century. Old pictures will show you the hillside above us bare of all but the houses necessary for the garrison of a fortress, whose hard fate it had been to be the place of contention of rival armies, while beneath the ramparts or within their walls were to be seen only a few of the buildings now devoted in far greater numbers to the purposes of religion and of charity. The banks of the St. Charles possessed then only a few store- houses such as would not now be thought sufficient for one of our fifth-rate towns. Now the whole of the slope is covered by the homes of a thriving, increasing and industrious population, while, over the extending limits under the rule of the municipality, learning looks down from the stately walls of Laval, and the members elected by your free and noble province will pass the laws, whose validity is guaranteed by our federal constitution, in a palace reminding one of the stately fabric which holds the art treasures of France. None can observe the contrast without seeing that your progress, although it has partaken of no magic or mushroom-like growth, has been most marked and promising.

If commerce seeks for her abode the head of navigation, there are many instances to show that she loves also to keep her ships to their native tides. An instance well known to us may be cited in the case of Glasgow and of Greenock, cities which have risen to their present prosperity so quickly that they rival in that respect many in America and in Canada. Greenock has not been killed by the enormous rise in the importance of the commercial capital of Scotland. Assuredly we may believe that Quebec, with a far greater country at its back, may be enabled, with the aid of proper communications, to pour forth every summer from her lap much of our wealth, of which Europe is so eager to partake.

These are the aspirations we share with you, and we wish to give effect to them by drawing the attention of those beyond the seas to the practical invitation you extend to them by the facilities afforded by your docks and wharves, and we now join with you in the trust that ample repayment will be yours for the energy and engineering skill you have lavished on the public works, which are comparable to any designed for a similar purpose. LORNE.

The drapery by which it had been concealed having been removed, the tablet stone was discovered suspended over the place it was intended to occupy in the wall. The attendant masons having performed their part, a silver trowel was handed to the Princess. This was a handsome piece of workmanship, beautifully chased and set in a rosewood handle, and bore the following inscription:—"To H.R.H. Princess Louise, this trowel was presented by the contractors of the Quebec Harbour Works, on the occasion of her laying the tablet stone of the Princess Louise Embankment and Docks, River St. Charles, Quebec July 29, 1880." Her Royal Highness, with this splendid implement, dug right lustily into the cement, and having prepared the bed, drew back to allow the ponderous stone to be lowered thereinto. This done, a beautiful mallet of polished oak having been presented, the mass received two or three blows, and was then declared to be well and truly laid. The Vice-Regal party almost immediately afterwards regained the Druid, which swiftly conveyed the members thereof to terra firma, the police yacht Dolphin being in attendance. Of the other steamers, the Clyde and North, after a short sail round the harbour, landed their passengers at the Grand Trunk Railway wharf; the Brothers went down to St. Joseph, and gave to those on board an opportunity of noticing the progress made upon the new Graving Dock there. The troops and privileged guests having been conveyed to and from the scene by the Montreal Harbour Commissioners' boat John Young.

HARBOUR AND DOCK WORKS.

Before describing these vast and important structures, calculated to afford such boundless facilities to ocean shipping frequenting our port, it may not be without interest to note the efforts made at various times for their construction. In his excellent work, "British Dominions in North America," Vol. 1., p. 263-264, Col. Bouchette thus deals with the subject in 1832—the far-seeing but misunderstood Mr. James George, however, as early as 1822, had conceived in his teeming brain the whole scheme.

"The construction of a pier across the estuary of the St. Charles is a measure of the greatest practicability, and of pronounced importance in every aspect, and a subject that was brought under the notice of the Legislature in 1829, when it received the most serious consideration of the committee, and was very favourably reported upon; but no bill has yet (1832) been introduced tending to encourage so momentous an undertaking. The most judicious position contemplated for the erection of such a pier is decidedly between the New Exchange and the Beauport Distillery and Mills, [141] a direct distance of 4,300 yards, which, with the exception merely of the channels of the St. Charles (that are neither very broad nor deep nor numerous), is dry at low water, and affords every advantage calculated to facilitate the construction of a work of that nature. It appears that, anterior to the conquest, the French Government had entertained some views in relation to so great an amelioration; but the subject seems to have never been properly taken up until 1822, when the project was submitted to the Governor-in-Chief of the Province by James George, Esq., a Quebec merchant, conspicuous for his zeal and activity, as well in promoting this particular object as in forwarding the views of the St. Lawrence Company, an association formed avowedly for the improvement of the navigation of the St. Lawrence.

Of the benefits to be derived from thus docking the St. Charles no one can doubt, whether the undertaking be considered in a local, municipal or commercial point of view. As a means of extending the boundaries of the Lower Town, and bringing under more immediate improvement the extensive branches of the St. Charles, it is of the greatest consequence.

Commercially considered, this pier (which would at first form a tide- dock, that might eventually be converted into a wet-dock) would be of incalculable advantage from the great facilities it would offer to the general trade of the place, and especially the timber trade, which has frequently involved its members in much perplexity, owing to the deficiency that exists of some secure dock or other similar reservoir where that staple article of the colony might be safely kept, and where ships might take in their cargoes without being exposed to the numerous difficulties and momentous losses often sustained in loading at moorings in the coves or in harbour. By building the outward face of the pier in deep water, or projecting wharves from it, an important advantage would also be gained, affording increased conveniences in the unloading and loading of vessels. In fact, it would be impossible, in summarily noticing the beneficial tendency of this great work, to particularize its manifold advantages; they are too weighty to be overlooked, either by the Legislature or the community at large, and will doubtless dictate the expediency of bringing them into effectual operation. The different modes suggested of raising the capital required for the undertaking are: 1st. From the Provincial revenue by the annual rate of a loan; 2nd. By an Act vesting it in the City of Quebec, by way of loan to the city, to be refunded by the receipts of rents and dock dues arising from the work; 3rd. By an Act of Incorporation, the Province taking a share in the stock, and appointing commissioners; 4th. By an Act of Incorporation only."

The Wet-Dock quay wall was to have been completed by the 1st of October, 1880, but delays have taken place, and the much-desired Tide Harbor of 20 acres, entering from the St. Lawrence, with a depth of 24 feet at low water, together with a Dock of 40 acres, having a permanent depth of 27 feet, will require another year before it is finally completed.

GRAVING DOCK, LEVIS.

An important portion of our Harbour improvements are located on the opposite shore of the St. Lawrence at Levis, and the sums voted by the Parliament of Canada (38 Vic., chap. 56), or granted by the Imperial Government to construct a graving dock in the Harbour of Quebec, were used in this structure, located by Order-in-Council, dated May, 1877, at St. Joseph de Lévis.

"The dimensions of the dock are:
Length……………………….. 500 feet
Extreme width…………………. 100 "
Depth………………………… 25.5 "
Width of entrance……………… 62 "

"The designs and specifications were prepared by Messrs. Kinnipple & Morris, Engineers, Westminster and Greenock.

"The Graving Dock of St. Joseph de Lévis, Parish of Lauzon, Quebec, was commenced by the Quebec Harbour Commissioners, under the Resident Engineer, Woodford Pilkington, M.I., C.E. in November, 1877, and was carried on previous to tenders being invited for the present contract, to the month of March, 1878, during which time the sum of $6,298.20 was expended in excavation on the site of the Dock, which work was afterwards taken over by Messrs. Larkin, Connolly & Co., as an executed part of their contract, signed August 17th, 1878, and the above sum deducted from the contract amount of their tender for the excavations given in the bills of quantities under this head; the Harbour Commissioners being afterwards re-credited with this amount of expenditure under the first certificate.

The work of excavating for and building this Graving Dock was taken in hand under contract with the Quebec Harbour Commissioners, by Messrs. Larkin, Connolly & Co., on the 17th August, 1878, for the lump sum of $330,953.89. The works to be delivered over to the Quebec Harbour Commissioners, finished complete, on the 1st day of June, 1882. [142]

THE GATES OF QUEBEC.

It seems superfluous to furnish a detailed description of the fortifications and citadel of Quebec. After the lengthy account given in "Quebec, Past and Present," pages 348-60, the following sketch, which we borrow, written previous to the erection of the new St. Louis and Kent Gates, [143] corrected to date, throws additional light on this part of the subject.

"Of all the historic monuments connecting modern Quebec with its eventful and heroic past, none have deservedly held a higher place in the estimation of the antiquarian, the scholar and the curious stranger than the former gates of the renowned fortress. These relics of a by-gone age, with their massive proportions and grim, medieval architecture, no longer exist, however, to carry the mind back to the days which invest the oldest city in North America with its peculiar interest and attraction. Nothing now remains to show where they once raised their formidable barriers to the foe or opened their hospitable portals to friends, but graceful substitutes of modern construction or yawning apertures in the line of circumvallation, where until 1871 stood Prescott and Hope Gates which represented the later defences of the place erected under British rule. Of the three gates—St. Louis, St. John and Palace—which originally pierced the fortifications of Quebec under French dominion, the last vestige disappeared many years ago. The structures with which they were replaced, together with the two additional and similarly guarded openings—Hope and Prescott gates—provided for the public convenience or military requirements by the British Government since the Conquest, have experienced the same fate within the last decade to gratify what are known as modern ideas of progress and improvement—vandalism would, perhaps, be the better term. No desecrating hand, however, can rob those hallowed links, in the chain of recollection, of the glorious memories which cluster around them so thickly. Time and obliteration itself have wrought no diminution of regard for their cherished associations.

To each one of them an undying history attaches, and even their vacant sites appeal with mute, but surpassing eloquence to the sympathy, the interest and the veneration of visitors, to whom Quebec will be ever dear, not for what it is, but for what it has been. To the quick comprehension of Lord Dufferin, it remained to note the inestimable value of such heirlooms to the world at large. To his happy tact we owe the revival of even a local concern for their preservation; and to his fertile mind and aesthetic taste, we are indebted for the conception of the noble scheme of restoration, embellishment and addition in harmony with local requirements and modern notions of progress, which is now being realized to keep their memories intact for succeeding generations and retain for the cradle of New France its unique reputation as the famous walled city of the New World. It has more than once been remarked by tourists that, in their peculiar fondness for a religious nomenclature, the early French settlers of Quebec must have exhausted the saintly calendar in adapting names to their public highways, places and institutions. To this pardonable trait in their character, we must unquestionably ascribe the names given to two of the three original gates in their primitive lines of defence—St. Louis and St. John's gates—names which they were allowed to retain when the Gallic lilies drooped before the victorious flag of Britain. The erection of the original St. Louis gate undoubtedly dates back as far as 1694. Authentic records prove this fact beyond question; but it is not quite so clear what part this gate played in subsequent history down to the time of the conquest, thought it may be fairly presumed that it rendered important services in connection especially with the many harassing attacks of the Iroquois tribes in the constant wars which were waged in the early days of the infant colony with those formidable and savage foes of the French. One thing is certain, however, that it was one of the gates by which a portion of Montcalm's army, after its defeat on the Plains of Abraham, passed into the city on its way back, via Palace gate and the bridge of boats over the St. Charles, to the Beauport camp. In 1791, after Quebec had fallen into British hands, St. Louis gate was reported to be in a ruinous condition, and it became necessary to raze it to the ground and rebuild it. Between this date and 1823, it appears to have undergone several changes; but, in the latter year, as part of the plan of defence, including the Citadel, adopted by the Duke of Wellington, and carried out at an enormous cost by England, it was replaced by another structure, retaining the same name. About this time seem to have been also constructed the singularly tortuous outward approaches to this opening in the western wall of the city, which were eventually so inconvenient to traffic in peaceful days, of whatever value they might have been from a military stand-point in trying hours half-a-century ago. These were also removed with the gate itself in 1871. On the vacant site of the latter, in accordance with Lord Dufferin's improvment project, a magnificent memorial gate, which the citizens had unanimously agreed to call "The Dufferin gate," is now (1880) erected.

The intention of naming it "The Dufferin gate," however, was abandoned. H.R.H. the Princess Louise, in deference to its traditions and with a graceful appreciation of the feelings of the French element of the population, having recently expressed the desire that it should be allowed to retain its original appellation.

Before their departure from Canada, Lord and Lady Dufferin had the pleasure of assisting at the ceremony of laying the corner stone of this new gate, as well as of the new terrace, which bears their name, and of fairly starting those important works on the high road to realization.

As an interesting link between the present and the past, St. John's gate holds an equally prominent rank and claims an equal antiquity with St. Louis gate. Its erection as one of the original gates of the French fortress dates from the same year and its history is very much the same. Through it another portion of Montcalm's defeated forces found their way behind the shelter of the defences after the fatal day of the Plains of Abraham. Like St. Louis gate, too, it was pulled down on account of its ruinous condition in 1791 and subsequently rebuilt by the British Government in the form in which it endured until 1865, when it was demolished and replaced, at an expense of some $40,000 to the city, by its present more ornate and convenient substitute, to meet the increased requirements of traffic over the great artery of the upper levels—St. John street. St. John's gate was one of the objective points included in the American plan of assault upon Quebec on the memorable 31st December, 1775; Col. Livingston, with a regiment of insurgent Canadians, and Major Brown, with part of a regiment from Boston, having been detailed to make a false attack upon the walls to the south of it and to set fire to the gate itself with combustibles prepared for that purpose—a scheme in which the assailants were foiled by the depth of snow and other obstacles. This gate, being of quite recent construction and of massive, as well as passably handsome, appearance, is not included in the general scheme of improvement. The erection of a life-size statue of Samuel Champlain, the founder of Quebec, upon its summit, is, however, talked of.

Palace or the Palais gate is the third and last of the old French portals of the city, and derives its title from the fact that the highway which passed through it led to the palace or residence of the Intendants of New France, which has also given its name to the present quarter of the city lying beneath the cliff on the northern face of the fortress, where its crumbling ruins are still visible in the immediate neighborhood of the passenger terminus of the North Shore Railway. Erected under French rule, during which it is believed to have been the most fashionable and the most used, it bade a final farewell to the last of its gallant, but unfortunate French defenders, and to that imperial power which, for more than one hundred and fifty years, had swayed the colonial destinies of the Canadas and contested inch by inch with England, the supremacy of the New World, when a portion of Montcalm's defeated troops passed out beneath its darkening shadows on the fatal 13th September, 1759. After the capitulation of Quebec, General Murray devoted himself at once to the work of strengthening the defences of the city, and the attention in this respect paid to Palace gate appears to have stood him in good stead during the following year's campaign, when the British invaders, defeated in the battle of St. Foye, were compelled to take shelter behind the walls of the town and sustain a short siege at the Hands of the victorious French under deLévis. In 1791, the old French structure, now a decayed ruin, was razed by the English, but, in the meanwhile, during 1775, it had gallantly withstood the assaults and siege of the American invaders under Montgomery and Benedict Arnold. The somewhat ornate substitute, by which it was replaced is said to have resembled one of the gates of Pompeii, and seems to have been erected as late as the year 1830 or 1831, as, in the course of its demolition, in 1874, an inscription was laid bare, attesting the fact that at least the timbers and planking had been put up by local workmen in 1831. It is not intended to rebuild this gate under the Dufferin plan, on account of the great volume of traffic, more especially since the completion of the North Shore Railway, to whose terminus the roadway which leads over its site is the most direct route. To mark that memorable spot, however, it is intended to flank it on either side with picturesque Norman turrets rising above the line of the fortification wall.

Hope Gate, also on the northern face of the ramparts, was the first of the two purely British gates of Quebec, and was erected in 1786 by Colonel Henry Hope, Commandant of the Forces and Administrator of the Province, from whom it takes its name. It was demolished in 1874 for no especial reason, this gate being no obstacle whatever to the growing requirements of traffic, as will be readily understood from its situation. Like Palace Gate, too, it is not to be rebuilt—its approaches being easily commanded and its position on the rugged, lofty cliff being naturally very strong.

Its site, however, will be marked in the carrying out of the Dufferin
Improvements by flanking Norman turrets.

The last of the city gates proper, wholly of British origin, but the first that grimly confronted in by-gone days the visitor approaching the city from the water-side and entering the fortress, is, or rather was, Prescott Gate, which commanded the steep approach known as Mountain Hill. This gate, which was more commonly known as the Lower Town gate, because it led to that part—the oldest—of the city known by that name, was erected in 1797, (to replace a rough structure of pickets which existed at this point from the time of the siege by the Americans in 1775) by General Robert Prescott, who served in America during the revolutionary war, and, after further service in the West Indies, succeeded Lord Dorchester as the British Governor-General in Lower Canada in 1796, dying in 1815, at the age of 89 years, and giving his name to this memento of his administration, as well as to Prescott, Ontario. Old Prescott Gate was unquestionably a great public nuisance in times of peace, its demolition, in 1871, consequently provoked the least regret of all in connection with the obliteration of those curious relics of Quebec's historic past. For reasons, which are obvious, it would be impossible to replace Prescott Gate with any structure of a like character, without impeding seriously the flow of traffic by way of such a leading artery as Mountain Hill. It will, however, be replaced by a light and handsome iron bridge of a single span over the roadway with flanking Norman turrets.

KENT GATE.

For the information of our visitors and strangers generally, we may explain that, a few years since, the western fortification wall between St. John's gate and the military exercising ground in past years, known as the Esplanade, was cut through to form a roadway communicating between the higher levels of the Upper Town and the St. Louis suburbs, now styled Montcalm Ward.

It consequently became necessary, in keeping with the aesthetic spirit of the whole Dufferin scheme, to fill up in some way this unsightly gap without interfering with the traffic. It was finally decided to erect here one of the proposed memorial gates, which is altogether therefore an addition to the number of the existing gates or their intended substitutes. This edifice, has been designed to do homage to the memory of Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of Queen Victoria. This gate will be the most imposing of all in the entire circuit of the fortifications, while it has had the signal honour of further being reserved for a handsome subscription towards its cost from Her Majesty's privy purse and dedication at the hands of H. R. H. the Princess, who laid its corner stone with appropriate ceremonial during the month of June, 1879.

THE CITADEL GATES.

Besides the foregoing, however, the fortress possesses in reality two other gates of much interest to the stranger. When the famous Citadel, commanding the entire harbour and surrounding country, was constructed on Cape Diamond, the number of existing gates was increased from five to seven by the erection of the Chain and Dalhousie, or Citadel gates, leading to that great fortalice of British power, which may be aptly styled the summum opus of the magnificent but costly system of strategic works that has earned for Quebec its title of the Gibraltar of America. But, as these belong to the Citadel, which is an independent stronghold of itself, rather than to the defensive works of the city proper, it suffices to mention that they were erected under the administration of the Earl of Dalhousie, in 1827, and that they are well worthy of a visit of inspection—the one being a handsome and formidable barrier of its class and the other of very massive construction and considerable depth.

The proposed Château St. Louis or Castle of St. Louis, must be regarded as the crowning feature of the Dufferin scheme of embellishment and was designed by the late Governor General to serve as a vice-regal residence during the sojourn of the representative of the Crown in Quebec, as well as to revive the historic splendors of the ancient pile of that name, which formed the abode of the early Governors of New France. Of course, this noble structure only exists as yet on paper; but, should it ever be erected, it will be a striking object from any point whence the Citadel is visible as it will rise to a considerable height above its highest battlements, standing out in bold relief to the east of the building known as the Officers' Quarters, with a frontage of 200 feet, and an elevation partly of 60 and partly of 100 feet, with a basement, two main stories, and mansard roof and two towers of different heights, but of equally charming design—the style of architecture of the whole being an agreeable mélange of the picturesque Norman and Elizabethan.

THELLER AND DODGE'S ESCAPE FROM THE CITADEL.

The Citadel has been described in detail elsewhere; [144] it is, therefore, unnecessary to allude to it further than recording here a startling episode in which it played a conspicuous part in those days of foes and alarm, during the Insurrection of 1838:—

"After the affair of St. Denis," says Roger, [145] "the murder of Lieutenant Weir, the matter of St. Charles, the storm and capture of the Church of St. Eustache, and the battle of Toronto, there were filibustering attempts to invade Canada, neither recognized by the Government of the United States nor by the bulk of the people, but indulged in by a party, sentimental with regard to liberty, and by others to whom plunder and excitement were congenial. In one of these filibustering expeditions, 'General' Sutherland, 'Brigadier General' Theller, Colonel Dodge, Messrs. Brophy, Thayer and other residents, if not citizens, of the United States, sailed from Detroit in the schooner Anne for Bois Blanc, which having been seized, an attack was made on Fort Maiden on the 8th of January, 1838, terminating in the capture of Theller, Dodge, Brophy and some others; General Sutherland having been afterwards captured on the ice, at the mouth of the River Detroit, by Colonel John Prince, of the Canadian Militia. The prisoners, after having been for a time in gaol at Toronto, were transferred, some to Fort Henry, at Kingston, and others, among whom were Sutherland, Theller and Dodge, to the Citadel of Quebec, which was then occupied by a battalion of the Guards, and there imprisoned, but treated with consideration and courtesy. It was not, however, unnatural that they should endeavor to escape. They were taken out of their prison-house daily for an airing, in charge of a guard, and, as it would appear, were not altogether denied the opportunity of conversing with persons who were friendly to them. Theller, in an account of the Rebellion in Canada, edited, it is said, by General Roberts, of Detroit, himself minutely details the nature and manner of his intercourse with a Mr. P. S. Grace, while under the charge of the military in Cape Diamond; how he succeeded in bribing soldiers' wives, and in cultivating the friendship of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the Guards, much of which is exaggerated, and some of which is untrue. Some of the sergeants, for small presents, Theller asserts, did whatever he required in the way of bringing books and newspapers from town and articles of food and drink from the canteen, which is undoubtedly true, but no man in the regiment, either directly or indirectly, connived at the escape. It was the result of clever management on the part of Theller, Dodge and his companions, and of unsuspecting stupidity on the part of the sentry who guarded the door of the prison, and, indeed, of all who seemed to have had intercourse with the prisoners. The escape was thus effected:—On a dark, rainy night, late in October, 1838, an iron bar having been previously cut through with a file given them from without, the sawing having been effected during performances on the shrill fife of one of the fifers of the garrison, which a prisoner had borrowed for the purpose of passing away the time and keeping up the spirits of his companions in misfortune, some of whom were despondent, Theller's conversation seduced a sentry into conversation, next to smoke a pipe, then to drink a tumbler of London porter, drugged with rathermore than 'three times sixty drops' of laudanum. The sentry struggled hard to prevent the drowsiness that was stealing over him; he spoke thick, and muttered that he had never before drank anything so good or so strong. He walked about in the rain to keep himself awake, and staggered a little. * * * It resulted in the escape of Dodge, Thayer, Theller and Partridge, who, after several hair-breadth escapes and hazardous incidents, found themselves outside of their old quarters." "The escaping party," adds Roger, "moved cautiously forward, at respectable distances from each other, along the canteen, and then got out into the middle of the great square to elude the sentry at the magazine. While there a sergeant came rushing from the guard-room towards the officers' quarters, the red, or as they appeared dark, stripes being visible on a white undress jacket. It seemed to be an alarm. There were only three sentinels between the escaping party and the flagstaff, where the descent was intended. Abreast was one whose duty was to guard the back part of the magazine and a pile of firewood which was there corded up, and also to prevent soldiers from going to the canteen. Another stood opposite the door of the officers' mess-room. There was room enough in the darkness to pass these sentinels, and Theller and his companions no longer crawled, but walked upright, one by one, quietly, but passing along as quickly as possible. Parker, however, after the sergeant passed, became much excited and terrified, and lost his way. He made some noise, and a sentry challenged, but without answering, the rest hurried towards the half-moon battery where the flagstaff is. Passing round the old telegraph post on one side, near the stabling attached to the officers' quarters, a sentinel there with side- arms only, or, as he is technically termed 'a flying Dick,' challenged, and Theller asserts he promptly answered, 'Officer of the guard,' when the countersign being demanded, he muttered, 'teen,' having learned during the confinement that the countersign of the Guards ordinarily ended so—seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, or such like—and the sentry, fancying from the cap with a gold lace band on it, which, having undone his cloak, Theller placed upon his head, that he was one of the officers, suffered him to pass. Parker had got among the firewood, and was making a noise. Dodge was running about on the top of the wall, making signals for Grace and other friends who were to be outside, but could see no one there. The haulyards of the flagstaff were then partially cut down with a penknife. An alarm was now given by an officer of the garrison who accidentally came upon Culver, one of the escaping party, and in a moment the drums beat and the guard turned out. The officers rushed out of the mess-room. An artilleryman detected Parker, and the cry arose that the American prisoners were loose and escaping. Some immediately ran towards the prison, whilst others dragged Parker to the guard-room, and yet others began to search about for the 'General,' Colonel Dodge, Culver and Hall, whom Parker intimated, in reply to a question put to him by an officer, had not come out. There was no alternative but to jump from the wall to the flat part of the precipice below, on which the wall is built, what Theller first did. For an instant he hung by his hands, then dropped, and alighted on his feet on the solid rock, falling back on his head. He was stunned, and lay a minute or two unconscious. When he came to himself, he heard Dodge inquiring if he was hurt, and replied in the negative, telling him to throw down the bundle of cloaks and leap upon them. Theller had broken the outer bone of his leg and dislocated his right ankle joint, but had been so stunned that he scarcely felt any pain. Culver descended next, and was stunned, the blood gushing from his nose and mouth; he had, it is said, also fractured his leg. Culver was more fortunate, as he alighted on a pile of cloaks, and was little, if at all, hurt. Dodge then, throwing down the piece of rope which he had cut from the haulyards to be used in the next descent, also slipped down the wall upon the pile of cloaks, and was unhurt. The second descent was made with the aid of the rope, the end of which was held by two of the party, while Theller with his wounded leg slipped down over a piece of cedar post which had been accidentally placed against the wall of the ditch. Culver followed, then Hall held the rope alone for Dodge, and afterwards descended himself as all had done on the first leap, caught as he came to the ground, however, by the rest of the party. Dodge, in saving Hall from falling after or as he leaped, sprained his wrist. The whole party, however, managed to crawl up the outer wall of the ditch, which was faced with dry stone, by inserting their hands in the interstices and using their feet as well as they could. They rested on the summit of the glacis for a moment, and saw the search that was being made for them inside by lights that were flashing about into every nook and cranny."

It would take us too far to describe the subsequent incidents of this clever plan of escape. The patriots of St. Roch, Dr. Rousseau, Grace, Hunter and others, provided means of escape for the "sympathisers" which baffled all the ingenuity of the Commandant of the Quebec garrison, an old Waterloo hero, Sir James Macdonald, who certainly spared neither time, men nor trouble to recover the Citadel prisoners, but in vain.

We must find room here for another singular incident in connection with the Citadel and the Insurrection of 1837-8:—

"THE MEN OF '37."

THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE "CHASSEURS"—RECOLLECTIONS OF A VETERAN—PROPOSED CAPTURE OF QUEBEC.

"A representative of the Montreal Witness, in a conversation with Mr. Rouillard, Inspector of Buildings, ascertained that he had taken a somewhat prominent part in the stirring scenes of the Rebellion of 1837. The old gentleman's eyes lit up with the fire of youthful enthusiasm when recounting the deeds of the "Sons of Liberty," and the secret society of the "Chasseurs."

"I was vigorous and strong in those days, and from my mother inherited an ardent love for the country in which I was born. Her letters in those days so magnetized me with patriotism that I could willingly lay down my life for the cause. I can only, however, give you a mere sketch to-day of some of the incidents and adventures through which I passed. The 'Sons of Liberty,' in Quebec and Montreal, numbered over 20,000 men, but within this body there was a secret society called 'Les Chasseurs,' all picked and trustworthy men. They formed a secret society and had their signs and passwords. It is singular that, though many of those men were placed in perilous positions when the revelations of our secrets would have saved them, not one traitor was found to betray the cause, and even to this day the secrets of the fraternity are unknown. Not very long ago I had occasion to go to Quebec, and was introduced to one of the Provincial ministers. I gave the sign of the 'Chasseurs' of forty-three years ago. He looked up surprised and returned the countersign. We had not met since the memorable émeute in the stable yard on St. James street.

We used to meet for drill and pistol practice in the upper story of the house still standing on the corner of Dorchester and Sanguinet streets.

There I remember one of our leaders harangued us. He is still alive, and Montreal's citizens know him well. He urged us to be brave and show no mercy in sweeping every obstacle from oar path, and when we gained our liberty we would have 'ample time for— tears, repentance and regret.' There used to be a loyal association called 'The Doric Club,' which met on Great St. James street near our rendezvous. Our men and the members of this club used to have many rencontres, until it culminated in a challenge from the 'Chasseurs' who sent a cartel to the sixty members of the Doric Club, offering to meet them with thirty of their picked men. The President of the Doric Club sent back a cold formal reply to the effect that they wished to have nothing to do with traitors and rebels.

"Our secret society had formed the daring design of seizing the citadel of Quebec on the same plan as Wolfe's Highlanders. We had our rendezvous within a short march of Quebec and on the eventful night numbered about 1,500 men, two hundred of whom had come from Montreal and the rest from St. Jerome, Three Rivers and other places. Each man was armed with a pair of pistols and a bowie- knife, and carried on his shoulders a bundle of straw.

They had thirty ladders which were to be used in scaling the narrow glacis which led to the citadel. The object was to make a regular roadway of these ladders, almost like a trellis work bridge, up which the patriots might easily pass. The night was dark and stormy. We had been waiting in the cold in our white blanket coats and white tuques, to assimilate to the color of the snow, when the order arrived to prepare to march. The second signal came at half-past eleven, and everything was in readiness for the attack. At a quarter to twelve the chief came in as pale as death and gave the order to disband, as the storm had suddenly ceased and the moon shone bright and clear, much to the discomfiture of the patriots, who looked forward to an easy victory. That chief, who still lives, said it was providential that the storm had cleared off before the attack had been made, for if it had continued and only cleared when the patriots were placing their scaling ladders in the glacis, not a man would have survived, as the British troops could have trained several guns on this particular spot and swept every living thing into destruction."

Mr. Rouillard said the Roman Catholic clergy were much opposed to their society, because it was secret, and had done all in their power to break it up, and England is indebted for her supremacy in North America to-day to the exertions and assistance given her in that troublous period by the Roman Catholic clergy." (Montreal Witness, 29th November 1880.)